Blind
by Randomicity
Summary: Done. Completely finished. Thanks for all those who read/reviewed. My FIRST FULL-LENGTH TOKKA FIC. XD Special thanks to LadyBaSingSe, Tokka Fun, and all the rest who reviewed my stuff. I really Do appreciate it...I own nothing, of course
1. The Gaang and I

It was amazing. Love is amazing. It works in so many ways, but it always unfolds with a great supernova of elation that shakes the recipients to the very core, with an apocalyptic blast that all but severs them from the face of reality, away from the Earth, landing them somewhere up on Cloud Nine.

It sounds painful, and not to mention frightening, but that's about all I can think to describe it. I sound Lovestruck, and I am, I even took a test that Suki gave me, and I came away with my rating as "_Lovestruck Moron." _AND THAT WAS THE ACTUAL RATING.I don't think I'm a moron, at least, not most of the time, but I know one thing, I _am_ Lovestruck, and I _AM_ incredibly jealous.

I'm jealous of Zuko and Katara. I'm so happy for them, they seem so happy _together_, always laughing, and then arguing, and then rolling in the dirt, and then they end up making out all over the floor. This is gross, and I'm thankful I'm blind so I don't have to watch them vacuum out the insides of their mouths via tongue, but it does leave me wishing that I could have somebody to do that with. Not the spit gland dry-cleaning, but the arguing part, and the general being _close_ to somebody. That's what I mean. That's what I want.

It's kinda difficult when most guys you know are weaker than you are, and already have girlfriends...

I'm still friends with them, though. I like Aang, Aang is cool, if not a little bit _babyish_ sometimes, especially when Katara comes within 300 feet of him, and then his face gets all "Goo Goo Gaa Gaa"

and his tongue almost touches the floor. Katara just smiles at him, knowing how she's got him wrapped around her little finger—and I _know_ she knows—but she never takes advantage of him, because she's just so _sweet._

That's one of the reasons why I gave her the nickname Sugar Queen. I don't remember the _actual_ reason, but I sorta gave it to her because she's like a piece of candy. Like one of those stupid tarts that Sokka likes to eat—constantly saying that they don't bother him—and then makes his face shrivel up, because they're too strong for his mouth, and he knows it.

I think he does it because he likes making me laugh. I don't know.

Sokka is strange. If there was something in a dictionary—a dictionary I could _read—_under his name, it would probably come up labeled as _misled genius_. He's _misled_, all right, but the whole thing about him is his stupidity. He isn't _stupid_, he's just...Sokka. He just _is_, and I can't think of any way to describe him better than that, because that's how he comes to mind. He's very smart, he likes to organize stuff, including the contents of my room—he stopped this after I punched him through the wall at least three times, once again, there's his stupidity—and he's also really stubborn. Kinda like me, only he doesn't sling an oversized rock at your head to get you to listen, he'd just as soon dice you into small pieces with his sword.

He wouldn't hurt us. Never. He'd _never_ hurt us, only anything else that ever tried to. And, judging from the past few years of being an official member of what he called the "Gaang" _a lot_ of things have tried to hurt us.

For example, there was the entire Fire-Nation. Why couldn't they just stay home? I mean, I completely understand them on the whole "Wanting to expand" thing, as I was trapped in my citadel... I mean my _home_, until Aang and his friend busted me outta there. I decided to come with them, lying that my father had given me permission—Like _Hell _he would've given me permission—so I just decided to come along with them, anyway, and've never regretted it for a second, even when I'm faced with Death.

There was the insane princess, Azula, who had tried to kill pretty much all of us, especially after the War was over, and she came after us, bloodthirsty, psychotic and unstoppably cool. At least she _was_, until Sokka hacked her arm off, after sending us all on our merry ways, saying that he'd come back, alive.

I admit, I was a little more than worried about him. And if he _hadn't_ come back alive, what I would've done to him—or had Aang do to him if I didn't feel like waiting—would've seemed like _nothing_ compared to Azula.

But Sokka came back alive, carrying Azula's arm to show us just how _alive_ he was, and she _wasn't_. He had been happy, he was happy we were safe, and I think he was even _happier_ that Suki had come back from the War unscathed, alongside her fellow Kyoshi warriors.

They're a group of girls, _only_ girls, except Sokka who was trained by Suki, who fight using some weird form of martial arts, and fans. Anyone who can kick your ass with a _fan_ deserves immediate and undeniable respect. This is fine, I respect her, and she respects me. I can't say were _friends—_We both have a crush on the same guy, duh—but she's cool, nonetheless.

At least, she _was_ until she started hitting on him. It was the same Lovey-Dovey stuff you always see. "Hey, Sokka" with a smile. "How are you, Sokka?" with a wink. "Nice moves, Sokka." with a smile and a pointed finger at his swords.

Yes, I know, that last one sounded so wrong until I said _swords._

Come to think of it, it sounds even _worse_ once I said _swords_. I you can't figure out _why_, then I shouldn't even tell you the answer. It doesn't matter, perverted humor isn't the point of this conversation, now. I'm just sitting in this bar, completely wasted, telling my thoughts to the random stranger who came and sat down beside me, equally as drunk.

Maybe you aren't listening, maybe you are. If you_ aren't—_and I know it sounds pathetic—I don't care, I just need someplace to dump my thoughts until I'm ready to sort through 'em, again. If you _are_ listening, I'll tell you a story. It's a happy one, there's no use telling you some sob story when were both plastered on cactus juice.

Lemme breathe for a second. Oh, sorry, is my grip on your throat too tight? Well, I _told_ you I needed someone to talk to, it's not _my_ fault you tried to get away.

Now you're wheezing. Here, let me adjust that for you.

This is the story of how I got a boyfriend, whom I didn't even_ want_, and somehow ended up with the one I _did_.

Sound weird, right? Believe me, it gets weirder...


	2. What happens when

**Okay, this WILL be funny. I promise you that. I will also be sort of weird, as my OC will be myself (employing my twisted sense of humor) but it WILL be funny, and it WILL be Tokka.**

**I don't own this show. Damnit, you guys just LOVE HEARING ME SAY THAT!**

**Enjoy!**

**(Toph's POV)**

**So I started off by telling you about myself. **I'm blind, obviously, and I'm thirteen years old. My birthday is in June, and my favorite colors are green and yellow. I think so, anyway, because I'm wearing them, now, and people always say to me that they look good on me. Obviously, I've never _seen_ how I look, except for once in the reflection of this lake, and that was for like twenty seconds, so I'm pretty much oblivious on the whole "How-pretty-am-I" thing.

It sounds sad, I know. Most girls are obsessed with make-up and hair and nails, but myself, I couldn't care less. My face is fine, my hair's a mess, and my nails are short because I bite em that way. Fine for me, good enough for you. 'Nuff said. It seems kind of superficial to me, I mean, even when I _want_ to look good for somebody—it happened for Sokka, once and _only_ once--I couldn't even _do_ it, and there's _no way_ I'd ask Sugar Queen for help. God forbid, she'd _never_ live it down, and she wouldn't be outright about it either. She'd just sit there and stare at me, knowing she was driving me crazy, until I either broke down and murdered them all, or confessed to Sokka about how I felt.

Because the sad thing is, we _both_ know he'd never figure it out on his own.

**3RD PERSON**

**The day dawned promisingly.** The same way every other day does, depending on what you want to do. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki and Toph were mulling around their home in Ba-Sing-Se, avoiding the intense heat outside, and the rays of the sun that all but baked the ground to a crisp. Toph, as rugged as her feet were, absolutely _refused_ to set foot outside the house, and Sokka refused to go without her, and Aang refused to go without Katara, who wouldn't go without _him_, and Suki was pretty much cast outside of this, but she figured there'd be no use in going to a damned spa when nobody else wanted to come along.

"Comon, Katara!" Whined Sokka. "It's too _hot _to stay inside and do nothing!"

Katara sat back in her chair, and continued fanning herself. "I know." She grimaced. "It's too hot to do anything _outside_, either."

Sokka grinned. "That's why we're going to a spa!"

Suki smiled at her moron of a boyfriend. "It's a _heated_ spa, Sokka. We'd most likely barbecue."

Toph cracked a wicked grin from across the room. "Besides, we can't go anywhere, anyway."

Sokka looked confused. "Why not?"

"Hotpants is coming, today." She smirked at Katara, who gave her a dark look. "She's been rushing around all day cleaning, just_ watching_ her is making me tired."

This time, Aang looked confused. "But, you can't--"

Toph silenced him with a look that promised nothing but pain. I _know_, Twinkles, it was a _joke."_

Aang's face fell, and he lay back against the couch, sighing. "Oh."

Sokka shot forwards. "I know what we could do!!"

Suki looked interested. "What's that?"

Sokka smiled, half-wickedly, half-sincerely. "We could have an orgy!"

Suki threw one of her boots at him from across the room, and Katara flipped him off his chair with a slide of ice.

Sokka looked angry. "I don't see you thinking of anything else to do!" He thought for a moment. "At least we'd still be inside the house..."

Suki threw her other shoe at him, which landed with a dull thud against his head. Considering it was _Sokka's _head, that was about the only sound it could have made.

Sokka rubbed his skull, scowling. "I was just kidding..."

DING-DONG!

The front buzzer went off, and Katara leapt from her chair as if shocked. She sprinted towards the door, throwing it open to find herself...

...Giving a complete and total stranger a hug.

Zuko's head came from somewhere behind his body, and Toph could tell that he was forcing himself not to laugh. "Hey, Katara."

Katara released the stranger, blushing crimson, and gave Zuko a hug, instead.

"Hey, Katara! Long time no see?"

That voice. It was that bendy girl, Ty-Lee, apparently she had come with Zuko, along with a crowd of... Toph felt for vibrations outside the door, and found two other people.

Suki glanced at Sokka, who was attempting to stave off a wave of laughter, clearly chewing on his tongue. "Okay, so that's three people, who _else_ is there?"

An emotionless drawl could be heard from the doorway, saying something about the heat, to which Zuko replied simply as. "Then come inside."

Katara sounded flustered. "Oh, yes! Please...Umm...Come in, please!"

The group of people assembled into the foyer, most of them we knew, and some we didn't.

There was Zuko, newly appointed Fire-Lord and boyfriend to Katara. There was Ty-Lee, best friend to Mai (the one with the drawly voice) and apparent Ex-sidekick to Azula, who was Dead, God have mercy on her sure-to-be-damned soul. There was also one more person that nobody knew. Zuko said it was his cousin, who he was teaching Firebending, who knew something about the Element of sound, or whatever, and could teach Aang about it, if he wanted.

And of course, he wanted.

So there was Zuko, Ty-Lee, Mai, and JJ, who Katara had mistakenly hugged earlier. I guess that we should have seen it coming. I mean, when there's boredom, and nothing to do, we don't _need_ to find trouble.

Because trouble _stalks_ us.

**1ST PERSON POV—Toph**

**I've never been drunk, before.** I've never been drunk, although I have drank a few times, but I've never actually done so to the point where I've gotten _drunk. _I wasn't drunk,at least I think I wasn't, and everyone else seemed to be more-or-less inebriated, so I didn't want to end up that way, myself. Just for the sake of sobriety.

God, that didn't sound like me.

Anyway, I was sitting at a table with Aang, listening to music being pumped out from JJ's guitar. He called it Rock-and-Roll, I thought it was something referring to an Earthbender, and had offered to smash it over his head, but he had apologized, pleading that no harm was meant.

I'd let him off. At least, just this one time.

So I was sitting with Aang, who was viciously wasted, bobbing his head in-time with the music, which seemed to be getting louder by the second, and my head didn't agree with this in the slightest. He seemed to Love it, though, singing (horribly, I wished for a minute I was _deaf_ rather than blind.) and swaying to the beat, which pulsed from the chords of JJ's guitar, amplified a thousandfold by his Sound-Bending.

Aang snapped free from his daze, and asked me something I couldn't hear over the music.

I yelled back. "What?"

He said something else, again, I couldn't hear.

"_WHAT?"_

Twinkles shook his head, and threw his glass of liquid inebriation at JJ, who stopped playing midnote, glaring at him, who grinned sloppily.

"I was asking you to tell him to stop."

Thankfully, Aang did this, because if I had stopped him he would've been severely injured.

--**With Zuko and Katara--**

**Katara hadn't drunk.** She wouldn't let herself become inebriated while her friends were reducing themselves to little more than the zombies from _Shaun of The Dead. _Instead, she sipped from her glass of Apple-Juice, watching the room descend deeper into lunacy as her friends staggered around, tripping over themselves.

She turned towards Zuko, who was staring into space and said. "I _know_ the war's over, and I'm happy that you've come to visit, yes. But do they _really_ have to get wasted _just_ because they can?"

Zuko gave her a thin smile. "Relax, Katara. If I wasn't so afraid of someone spiking my drink with something poisonous or hallucinogenic, I'd probably be just as wasted as they are, right now."

Katara sighed and gave him an icy glare. "At least _someone's_ on my side." She muttered. "Why did you even _do _this?"

Zuko shrugged. "I don't know, I thought it seemed like a pretty good idea. Besides, I wanted an excuse to see how many shots the Avatar could down without completely losing it."

"But you were tossing shots over your shoulder the whole time!"

He shrugged. "So? He wins by default, he's got the pleasure of being a bigger tank than I am, and he won fifty bucks."

"But you don't _have_ fifty bucks."

He glanced at her sideways, eyes narrow. "Neither does Sokka." he smiled. "As far as I'm concerned, what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Katara sighed and glanced at the ceiling, wishing it would fall in and knock some sense into her companions. Zuko looked bored.

She glanced at him, catching something that he had said. "So you did this only to see how much Aang could _drink?_"

Zuko realized he was in trouble. "Oh, no." He said, smiling. "I, uh, I came to see you!" His smile faded. "At least, that was the _first_ reason..."

Katara folded her arms. "Oh, really?" She sneered at him, feigning jealousy. "How do I know you aren't secretly seeing some girl behind my back in the Fire-Nation? Surely you've got some cute _attendants_, or something."

Zuko grinned wryly. "Actually..."

Katara smacked him upside the head, and he spilled his drink across his pants, cursing. He turned towards Katara, and "accidentally" knocked over a glass of water onto her robes, grinning.

"Zuko!"

"Sorry." He shrugged. "I was trying to stretch." He seized his glass, drinking deeply.

Zuko's glass of vodka exploded in his face.

**With Sokka and Suki**

**Suki watched in amazement as Sokka downed yet another glass of Cactus Juice.** This was at least his seventh one, and she wasn't sure how much longer his bladder—or his sanity—could hold out against it. He seemed to be doing just fine, only his eyes were at least six shades redder than they usually were, and he was having a great deal of trouble speaking.

She felt sorry for him, but this was _way_ too funny to ignore.

Sokka downed another glass of Cactus Juice, while Suki watched, half-disgusted, half-impressed, while Hakoda attempted to beat this record, allthewhile maintaining his general stability.

"I..." (HIC) "Think I need anuzzer..." Sokka turned towards Suki, who was smiling nervously. "Lemme...Wait..._What was I sayin?"_

Suki bit her tongue to keep from laughing, and then answered him. "You were saying." She leaned towards him, purring softly in his ear, "That you need _another._"

Sokka spun around, finger raised in exclamation, and knocked Suki out of her chair onto the floor. "Oh, yeah!!"

Hakoda downed another shot, feeling sorry for the Kyoshi warrior.

Suki glanced across the room towards Aang, who was sitting besides Katara, wishing that she could have it as good as they did.

--**With Katara and Aang--**

"Hey, Aang!" Katara yelled cheerfully, her face was flushed red, and she seemed to be having trouble focusing.

Aang nodded in her direction. His drunkenness had faded away, but his head was pounding in anger at him for overdoing it with the drinks. "Hey, Katara."

She smiled at the young airbender, giving him her full and undivided attention. "What're you doing?"

Aang glanced at her, yet again, looking preoccupied. "I'm just thinking. My head hurts and I can't concentrate right."

Katara frowned. "Awwww, I'm sorry, Aang." She leaned forward to give him a hug, but she miscalculated and lost her balance of the chair, and ended up kissing him on the cheek.

His face caught fire.

"Ummm... Katara?"

"Yeah, Aang?" She mumbled into his face.

"What're _you_ doing?" He liked it, he _knew he liked it_, but he was also best friends with Zuko, who was currently dating—somewhat—Katara.

She smiled. "I'm giving you a hug, silly!" She smiled, pulling back and surveyed him through cerulean eyes. "Aang...Wow."

He glanced at her sharply. _"What?"_

She blushed. "Y-you're really...Um...You're really cute."

Aang's face caught fire, once more.


	3. Her

**Sorry, guys, I'm not allowed to write during the weekdays, so I've lagged behind in my updates. I'm writing the next few chapters in as we speak, and I promise I'll have the entire thing done, soon. (I've got it planned out) This chapter is mainly about my character, and how he meets Toph. Needless to say, this story will be TOKKA, it's just not write there, yet.**

**Well, Tokka and Kataang...**

**I don't own Avatar, obviously. Though I **_**do**_** own JJ. So, review and ENJOY!!**

"**So how long have you been using this sword for?"** JJ asked Sokka, sounding extremely interested.

Sokka looked at JJ, who was balancing himself one-footed across the porch railing. "I think, about three years, now."

JJ whistled. "Man, you've got a lot longer than I do." He scratched his head. "Do you think you could teach me some moves?"

That sentence had _so_ many things wrong with it.

Sokka brought himself up to his full height, taking on a much deeper, exaggeratedly mature voice. "Of course, but the art of swordplay is not for the untrained hand. It is a weapon, and a tool, and is to be used as such."

JJ leapt down and folded his arms across his chest, smiling. "Says the guy who has a thing for meat."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Nothing." JJ pulled out his swords, a pair of Kodachis, and said. "So what do we do, first?"

SCHING!

He was interrupted as Sokka swung the sword at him, to be parried by the two shorter blades. They pushed against one another for a second, and ended up breaking apart as none could overpower the other. Sokka rushed towards JJ, who threw up his blades to block, but was taken by surprise as Sokka slid underneath the blades, palming him in the chest, off his feet and--

JJ landed with a WHUMP in the dirt.

"Ow." JJ stood up on one knee, as Sokka extended a hand to assist him.

WHAM! Sokka was flipped bodily over JJ's shoulder as he threw him over his back.

Sokka began laughing from the ground, and stood up, brushing himself off. "Okay, _that_ was pretty good."

JJ took a mock bow. "Thank you, Sifu Sokka."

Sokka braced his space-sword in front of him, preparing for another attack. "I'm going all out, now."

JJ's smile faded.

Sokka didn't attack first, this time. He used his power over JJ's speed with the Kodachis, rather than run in and be tripped up. It worked, as Sokka was able to trip JJ and lunge at him while on the ground, to which he rolled away, laughing wickedly. JJ leapt up, spinning off one foot to swing, and was parried by Sokka's wider blade, which didn't have time to parry the other _other_ Kodachi, which scored a hit right below his collar bone.

Sokka kicked him backwards, taking a defensive stance. He intercepted the twin swords, and with a casual flick of his wrist, sent them flying across the yard. He raised his blade, preparing to swing.

WHAMMMM! The blade of Sokka's sword collided with nothing but solid air, and Sokka was blasted backwards, into the fence.

JJ dropped to the ground, howling.

The contents of the house spewed outside, eyes wide and hearts pounding to see what all the ruckus was about, until they saw JJ covered in blood, and Sokka with a bent sword, lying in the ruins of their fence.

Katara was absolutely _furious._

1ST PERSON VIEW—Katara

**I couldn't believe it.** I let them out of my sight for more than ten minutes and somebody ends up bleeding. It figures, though, as Sokka had so much Cactus juice running through his system—even after he was _sober—_that there was no way he could've stopped either of them from hurting themselves. It makes sense, though, doesn't it? You get two morons, add a couple of swords and liquor, and you end up with a ruined fence, a broken hand and a couple of missing fingers.

I couldn't believe they'd been so _stupid. _I couldn't believe they'd been so _dense._ I couldn't believe they'd been so...Just so _Sokka._

Maybe if I repeat that a couple dozen times, I'll actually start believing it, huh?

I was standing in front of the two morons, staring at them after demanding an explanation why JJ was missing several fingers of his left hand, and why Sokka had a broken wrist.

That was four hours ago. I'd left them in them in my room, under strict orders not to leave, or I'd freeze certain parts of their anatomies off, and make sure that it couldn't be undone.

They'd agreed, wholeheartedly.

**3rd Person**

Sokka and JJ sat on a pair of wooden chairs inside Katara's room, after being furiously interrogated by her. She was marching around, outside the door right now, just _daring_ one of them to open it.

**1st person—JJ**

**Apparently, we weren't allowed to leave the room, under penalty of a cruel Death.** I personally had no problem with this, as I wanted to relax after having my fingers cauterized by Zuko. Unfortunately, there was no replacing the fingers back onto my hand, as they'd been crushed by the force of my sound waves.

That sounds ridiculous, I know, but you should see what it did to the fence...

I looked at Sokka, grinning nervously. "Uh...Dude?" I smiled. "You know your sister is..." I hunted for the best possible word. "_Insane,_ right?"

Sokka nodded, but scowled at me. "I know." He leaned back, groaning and rolling his eyes. "But only _I_ can call her that."

"Sorry." I shrugged.

Sokka laughed. "It's no problem. And..." He bit his lip, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry for hacking off your fingers." He grimaced. "That was totally stupid."

I shrugged, smiling. _"Please, _like we didn't see a thousand time worse during the War."

Sokka nodded, laughing. "You're right, but did you lose any fingers fighting the Fire-Nation?"

"No. But that's not the point."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"I never actually _fought_ any Fire-Nation, I spent most of time there as a prisoner at the Boiling Rock."

He looked at me, shocked. "You were at the Boiling Rock?"

"Yeah." I nodded slowly. "Fire-Nation saw my Sound-Bending as an outrage, so they locked me up there." I smiled. "I hear I have you guys to thank for causing all that ruckus."

He smiled. "What happened?"

"They tried to kill me. Just when you guys raised all Hell, I liquefied them."

"Whoa." He leaned towards me, looking incredibly interested. "How'd you do that?"

I shrugged. "If I send sound waves directly into someone's body, and vibrate them fast enough, it's almost like a blender or something. I can reduce them to piles of Jello"

"That's...Disturbing."

I smiled sadly. "I know, sound is crazy hard to control, that's how I ended up breaking your wrist." I frowned, looking for the right words. "I...Uh... I'm sorry, man."

He shrugged. "No problem. Maybe you need a lighter weapon?"

I shook my head. "Nuh-Uh. These Kodachis are specifically made for Sound-Bending."

"How so?"

"There're pores in the metal, which allow sound waves to travel through them and into their target. It's pretty cool, because they can withstand so much."

"Fillers. You filled the pores with steel, didn't you?"

I whistled low, incredibly impressed. "Yup."

"How...Uh, how long did it take you to do that?"

I grinned wickedly. "Thirty-Seven pairs. Obviously, I suck at metal-crafting."

"I could teach you." He offered. "If you teach me how to use those Kodachis."

I stuck out my three-fingered hand, carefully avoiding his broken wrist, and squeezed gently. "Deal."

He didn't wince.

**CONTINUE 1ST PERSON...**

**--JJ--**

**This was madness. Complete and total madness.**

Within four hours, I'd gotten drunk, beaten up, and threatened with Death by Sokka's older sister. Zuko had been right about her, she wasn't to be fooled around with, but she seemed to be nice, only whenever someone close to her was harmed, she became almost demoniacally frightening.

He was right, but I could understand why he didn't Love her.

But then again, I've no idea_ what_ she's like, so I make myself sound like an ass when I judge her, unnecessarily. Maybe I'd fix that, later, but for right now I was content to be sprawled on across the back lawn with my Kodachis, worn out from our previous sword fight. Right now, I was happy to lay here on the grass and watch Ty-Lee chase Sokka around, Katara argue with Zuko about something very loud and explicitly detailed, and watch Aang play poker with Suki, who was laughing as she beat him again, and again.

Mai was nowhere to be found. It figured, though, her most recurrent company was probably her shadow. And Toph was somewhere inside, probably avoiding me.

So I was here, surrounded my madness, wondering how these people lived day-to-day without _killing_ eachother, and wondering how I'd fallen madly in Love with Toph.

It _sucked_. I _hate_ romance, but it's kinda hard to deny it when you've been unable to sleep for two days because you _can't_ get her out of your head. Maybe she was right to nick-name me "Stalker" (Though I wasn't. _God _knows I wasn't.) And I admit that it _was_ weird, and I fully deserved that title, even though I Loved her like mad.

Maybe I'm Lovesick. Am I Lovesick? I don't know. And frankly, I've gotta find out, or I'll go violently insane.

This is how it happened...

**(Flashback—Two nights ago)**

_**Oh, Romeo, Romeo, wherefor art thou, Romeo.**_

It was a dream. I was asleep, and a certain raven-haired girl was sitting on a balcony, crying out to me. I know the context doesn't fit. I mean, I know that _now_, because Juliet's actually saying "_Why_ are you, Romeo" And in my language, that translates to something roughly along the lines of. "Why the _Hell_ are you a _Montague?_ You're the first damned boy I've ever Loved and you have to be a _Montague? _The world _sucks!_" But then again, you've gotta realize that this is _my_ language, not Shakespeare and the greater part of England.

But, anyway, on with the story. Toph/Juliet was on the balcony, weeping crystal tears onto the ground below, sobbing out the contents of her soul to the potted plants in front of her. I was hiding in the bushes, nearby, exactly like in the play, except I had my guitar instead of a...Whatever he was carrying, and I was also sobbing, because I _knew_ I couldn't do anything about her.

I _hate_ romance. It rarely ever works for me, and this dream was the equivalent to a nightmare. I sprinted out from the bushes, crying her name, and ran squarely into the hilt of a sword, carried by a guard, who emerged from the trees in front like a shadow.

I watched myself bleed to Death, and then, I woke up.

There was few minutes of peaceful, unbroken silence, and then a scream.

Someone screamed from down the hallway, and I figured it was just a nightmare. Maybe somebody ate too much of Zuko's cooking. (It _will_ mess with your head, trust me, I _am_ his cousin) I lay back, trying to sleep again, and the scream echoed across the hallway, only louder.

_That_ did it.

Swords in hands, I burst through my bedroom door, into the hallway, trying to make as little noise as possible, for fear of alerting an intruder. I ran towards the source of the sound, silently, like Zuko had taught me, and kicked open the door to find...

Absolutely freaking _nothing_. There was nobody in there.

Nobody except for _Toph, of course,_ who was piercing me with a gaze so severe that I actually feared for my Life, just then. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and glaring even more fiercely at me, and growled.

"What the _Hell_ are you doing?"

I stared at her, confused, until I finally realized what she meant. "Why'd you _scream_?"

"I didn't _scream_." She frowned at me, "What're you talking about?"

I folded my arms over my chest, drawling. _"Riiiight."_

She looked at me, and smiled sweetly. "I'm just fine, thanks. If you were planning to do something sick, it's too late now, cause I'm _already awake."_

"Who says I was going to do something sick?" I was actually angry, now. Because I had actually been _worried_, not contemplating rape.

She didn't say anything, but I'd be willing to bet my last three fingers she was blushing.

I sighed. "Fine, but if somebody comes to murder you in your sleep, don't scream too loudly." I yawned. "I can't seem to fall asleep for long."

She tilted her head to one side, giving me an indifferent shrug. "Whatever. Night, asswipe."

I gave her the bird with my left hand, realizing that even with three fingers missing, I was still able to do this. This made me laugh softly, until I heard something that nearly made my blood run cold.

Sokka. Sokka, coming down the hallway. I overreacted, naturally, and did what any A-class moron would do who was about to be nailed by the guy who thought of Toph as his youngest sister, and threw myself—headfirst, I collided with the wall—into her closet.

Brilliant, huh?

I lay on the floor, listening to the two talk, trying to keep my heart from exploding through my ribcage, and also not to hyperventilate. I'd gotten my heart rate down to normal, when I heard Toph and Sokka exchange Good-Nights and the lot, and I carefully edged open the door.

"Is he gone?" I whispered, as softly as I could.

"_Sokka!" _called Toph, softly-but-firmly, and even from the darkness of the closet, I could see her twisted grin.

Sokka stuck his head into the room, and I realized that only a few inches of door separated us, and if he were to look to his left, he'd see a pair of disembodied feet jutting from the closet. Maybe Toph was a closet sadist, but I didn't think she'd be careless enough to leave her bodies so carelessly stashed around her room. I mean, even Ed Gein took better care of his _bodies_ than he did his own _home._

"_Good night." _Said Toph sweetly, and Sokka smiled, I guess, said good night as well, and left.

I let my breath out in a desperate whoosh. Relieved to be alive and undiscovered.

Toph glared at me from on her bed and sneered. "Ya better not take any of my stuff, Stalker."

I snickered. "Why _would_ I, it's not like you're...Well..._Developed_ enough to wear bigger sizes, yet."

This was a lie, at thirteen, she really didn't look all that bad. But it wasn't her body which I was enticed by.

I think you can tell, I wasn't romantic, but I wasn't _vain_, either.

Once again, I'd bet... not my fingers, but maybe a couple of toes or skin, or something, that she was blushing.

Here's where it got really screwed up. Here's where I realized that I Loved her, and my stupid author—whose persona is me, In this story—who keeps capitalizing Love, laughed his ass off at himself.

What kind of a freaking weirdo _was_ this guy? You laugh at yourself in a _Fan-Fiction?_ Wow.

Regardless, this is where I fell in Love, and this is where he fell_ out_ of his chair.

"Goodnight, Stalker." She smiled, genuinely. "You're a real idiot, I hope you don't make me lose too much of my beauty sleep." She frowned. "I need that, by the way."

I tossed her the shirt that was dangling from my shoulder, and grinned. "Yeah, there ya go. I wasn't going to steal it. And no, you really don't."

"What?"

I shook my head. "Nevermind, _Goodnight_, Toph."

She said nothing for a few minutes, and then. "G'night, Stalker."

I know, it sound like I'm an ass. But I didn't look back at her, but I _swore_ that she was smiling.

I went to bed, grateful that I'd met someone just as horribly sarcastic as me, and even more thankful that she was blind.

I'd lost my robe while I was diving into her closet.


	4. Together, in Love

**New chapter up! **

**I told you I'd update quickly, and it was not a lie.**

**Oh, by the way, Tokka Fun nailed me a few chapter ago for some dialogue I stole from a story of mine, titled "Love Stains" I don't know HOW she remembered this, but I'm honored she did, regardless. Thanks to her, and all who Read and Review, and Enjoy.**

**I don't own Avatar. I own JJ. LadyBaSingSe... I WILL do fluff, and I WILL do Kataang. Though it'll be in my style.**

**This was funny.**

**(3rd person POV)**

**The Gaang was generally hanging out.** The sun had fallen, night had descended upon the house which housed almost a dozen people, including Aang and Katara. Aang was nervous, as usual. He was jumpy because he was _nervous_. He was _nervous_ because of a certain blue-eyed Water-Bender. She had been crying from behind her door for nearly half an hour now, and he was unsure of whether he should talk to her, or leave her be, as she could get angry. And when she was_ angry_, she was often unstoppably violent.

Needless to say, he had quite a bit on his mind.

He hovered in front of her door, staring at the brown wood as if it were going to come inexplicably to Life and help him with his predicament. Of course, it didn't, as the basic laws of Physics disallowed such things, and instead he was presented with Sokka, who, given his anger over Zuko upsetting Katara, made him more of a hindrance, than a help.

Either way, something funny was bound to happen.

Sokka sulked over to Aang, who hadn't noticed him standing there, he was too intent on the door.

"What's up, Aang?" Aang jumped, and smiled nervously at Sokka, who narrowed his eyes.

"Katara's in there." Explained the embarrassed Avatar.

Sokka shrugged. "So?"

Aang glanced nervously at the door, expecting it to open and reveal a saddened Katara, but the door remained stoic, and Aang remained flustered.

"She's...Uh...She's hurt about Zuko. I think he made her mad, somehow. I heard them arguing downstairs."

Sokka glanced miserably at the door. Normally, he'd run downstairs and confront Zuko, but that wasn't the only thing bothering him, just then.

"So go and talk to her. She's angry, right? You're good at talking to her." He grinned, sad as it was. "She Loves you, you know?"

Aang blushed, hardly daring to believe it. "No, she doesn't."

Sokka snickered. "Yeah, she does. She's Loved you for ages, now. She said she can't Love Zuko after I confronted...er...queried her about it, and she said that Zuko is too far away." Sokka looked up at the lights on the ceiling, thinking. "Besides, he has a _Nation_ to run."

Aang looked horrible. Half-saddened, Half-hopeful, but his insides were screaming for it to be true.

"Y-You...Y...Really?"

Sokka nodded, smiling. "Yup." He paused for a moment, and answered The Avatar's unspoken question. "Yes, Aang, I give you my permission to date her."

Aang smiled brilliantly, full of nothing but heartfelt emotion, and embraced the older boy. He stood there for a moment, lost on what to do, and pulled black, blinking back grey tears.

Sokka smiled, and gave him a very Toph-like punch on the arm. "Go. Don't stare at me all night."

Aang turned, breathed, and opened the door.

**1st Person—Aang**

**I think I was in a dream.** I think so, I didn't want to believe that what had just happened was a dream, but it was so sweet, so _complete_ that I couldn't' help but think of it as one. Katara was mine. She was mine, the girl of my dreams was finally and completely within my reach, and in my arms. I couldn't' think of any other way to be happier, except maybe finding out that where was a few other Air-Benders alive, besides me.

I hoped Katara was happy, as well.

**1st Person—Katara**

**I Loved Aang with all my heart.** He had entered my room just ten minutes earlier as I'd been crying. Zuko and I had an argument, and he didn't agree with me. He said we could still be together, even if he was in the Fire-Nation, and I were to remain here, he said it could still work., and it hurts me to say this, more than he'll ever know, but I think we _both_ knew that it'd never work.

Zuko was Zuko, the newly-appointed Fire-Lord, amassed with responsibilities and new power. He was an amazing person, having come a long way from his Avatar-hunting days, and I know he has the heart and the ability to bring the Fire-Nation back to an even greater height than before. I _know_ he does. But...

He'd have to do it without me.

I Loved Zuko as an older brother. He was what Sokka wasn't. For every place that Sokka was crazy, loopy and disorganized, Zuko was cool and decisive. For every place that Zuko was...Well...A Hothead, Sokka was organized and logical. I Loved them both, don't get me wrong, and I feel bad for saying this, but...

I just didn't Love him the way I did Aang.

I don't know if you can understand this. I have no idea. But even if you can't, I hope you can understand why I've done what I've done, why I gave myself, body and soul, to the Avatar. To Aang, My one, true Love.

**3rd Person**

**It was over. The moments had been entwined together, held by the gossamer strings of divinity, glistening with the dew of unchecked emotions which had run down the spindly fibers, and into the hands of Aang and Katara, who were deeply, definitely, in Love.**

**Within each breath held a decadence that only the Gods can experience. Each grasp, each murmur, each promise whispered consisted of everything and nothing at all. Only the two knew their contents, and would hold them secretly, to their very souls.**

Or, at least, until Sokka came bursting through the door, screaming bloody murder...

**(A/N Didn't I tell you Sokka would be a hindrance? But, at least it _was_ funny...)**


	5. Date me to Date him

**Hey! Randomicity here, and I'm doing just what it is you want me (Or so I hope, unless you want me to die, or something) To do. I'm making this chapter another humor-fest, but I'll add fluff to keep the plot going. I still remember that it began from Toph's POV, talking to someone in a bar.**

**Maybe I'll have an especially cruel fate in store for someone to make it all turn out right.**

**Maybe, maybe not...**

**I don't own this show, thanks for Reading and/or Reviewing, and ENJOY!**

**It was so quick, it only happened in flashes.** Sokka burst into the room, face red and taut, clearly enraged, screaming at the top of his lungs. He raged on and on at Katara, who raged back equally as loudly, while Aang sat between the two, trying to stave off any oncoming blows. The noise was so loud, it attracted everyone else in the house, sleeping or not, and basically threw the Gaang into a state of high hilarity and alert.

**Suki was standing next to a stricken Sokka, very pale, trying to calm him down**. Zuko was pacing feverishly at the foot of the hallway, expression grim, clenched fists at his sides suggesting there was something—a certain, blue-tattooed _something—_that he'd oh-so-dearly love to pummel. Mai and Ty-Lee managed a respectful distance from the argument, though snickering as they watched the madness skyrocket. JJ and Toph were sitting together, (apparently non-intimately, as Toph kept punching him)

"_Yeah!" _Hollered JJ, "_I_ THINK THEY WERE--"

He was cut off by Katara, who was storming at Sokka, whose reply cut the sentence cold.

"AND YOU SLEPT WITH HIM, YOU--"

Toph winced. "I'm surprised she hasn't frozen his mouth shut by now."

JJ leaned towards her, hands cupped over his ears. "_WHAT!?_"

"_AANG, I SWEAR TO GOD THAT IF KATARA'S--"_

JJ laughed. "Man, he is in _so_ much trouble." Toph nodded, seeming sick.

Katara replied to him, scornfully. "_AT LEAST AANG CAN ACTUALLY GET A GIRL, SOKKA! AS YOU PINBALL BETWEEN TOPH, TY-LEE AND SUKI!"_

Sokka fell silent, struck dumb by Katara's sentence, who's eyes grew wide, as if she'd committed a horrible blasphemy. Ty-Lee ran down the hallway, crying, while Suki gave Katara her most nightmarish grin and Toph shrugged her shoulders, looking suddenly downcast.

JJ noticed this, and moved away. He thought it would be best not to interfere, even with a little blind girl. (Although he knew all too well that little blind girl could throw boulders the size of your average semi at you)

On top of that, something _major_ was about to happen to everyone in the house—everyone who normally lived here, anyway—and he wanted to be as far away from the blast radius as possible.

For a while, everything was silent. Everyone mostly kept to themselves, or talked through things with the person they deemed important to them. Sokka wanted to talk to Toph, the problem was, he just didn't know _how._

**My name is Sokka.** You obviously know me as being the meat-and-sarcasm guy. Not that difficult to remember. I might seem like an idiot at times, and act like one pretty much _all_ the time, but that doesn't mean that I was genuinely stupid. It just means that I act like an idiot at times, not that I was stupid.

_Was_ I stupid?

I'd caught Aang and Katara in bed, together. I found them, both having what only could be described as sex in her room, with the lights out, in complete and total secrecy. I couldn't believe it, at first. I mean, they didn't even _tell_ me! I gave Aang permission to _date_ Katara, and even _that_ was hard enough! I didn't give him permission to go ahead and have _sex_ with her!!

It made me mad. Really, _really_ mad. And I thought about it for awhile--sitting on my bed, kicking the walls—while I listened to the pounding in my head, and the sounds of the crickets outside. The crickets seemed to be a lot louder than normal, or the house might've just gotten much quieter. I don't know, and right now, I really don't care about much of anything.

Except the Avatar. It's not that I hate him. I don't hate him, though I know I _could_, seeing what they've done. I just feel kind of _beaten_. As if someone had worn me down to the bone, and I wasn't exactly sure of what to do next, considering my situation wasn't exactly a good one.

So, I did some thinking.

I came out with three possible solutions. Well, actually four, but killing Aang wouldn't slide with the others, so I got rid of that one after the first hour or so. I came out with three possible decisions, and I ended up coming to terms with myself, and realized something...

I was in Love with Toph.

It wasn't important now, though. I had to do _this_ first, and I would worry about Toph, later, although talking to her would be just as easy as sword fighting blindfolded.

Actually, probably not...

I dragged myself off of the bed before I could hit anymore fourth of fifth thoughts, and walked as quietly over to the Avatar's room as I could manage.

I knocked, twice.

"Come in." I stepped inside, to find Aang who was halfway through a bout of tears, which made me feel both worse and satisfied, because he'd regretted what he'd done.

It sounds horrible, but right now I was an absolute wreck, and wasn't paying much attention to my acting strangely. I wanted to fix this, right now, before it destroyed me.

Because Aang was like a little brother to me.

So I said it. I came in, sat down, and talked for half an hour with Aang, telling him that what he did _was_ incredibly stupid, and it could've hurt them both, but I was also happy for him because _he_ was happy, and now, he was pretty much going to become my brother...

Or so I hoped, anyway.

So I finished, and we were at that point where you've been staring at eachother for so long that there's only two possible explanations, you A: Start Dating...Or B: Say Goodbye.

I said goodbye, gave him a hug—it didn't hurt me—and as I was leaving, he said something that made me immensely relieved.

"I used protection."

We both kind of stood there for a minute, gawking at eachother, until we both—it was impossible to tell who was first—starting laughing, just all of the sudden. We fell onto the floor, clutching at our sides, crying and gasping for breath, until our laughter spasms ended, and everything was more-or-less okay.

Aang was fine. If anyone was to have Katara, I'd want it to to be him, anyway.

**Mai**

**This is annoying.** Everyone in the house must have lost their minds, because they all just started arguing for no reason. So what if the Avatar had slept with the Water-Bender? They were obviously—or, at least Ty-Lee said this—in Love, and they _belonged_ together.

I didn't know what to believe, but _anything_ was better than listening to them whine and complain. I'd rather be eating a bowlful of glass, or sharpening my knives. Decidedly anything but sitting there and listening to them scream while Ty-Lee chattered away in my ear about how they made such a cute couple.

I didn't care about them, really. I don't want to sound mean, I'm being honest, and I have my own problems, now.

The problems came in the form of the Fire-Prince.

He'd ditched me for the Water-Bender. He'd left me for her, and I was heartbroken—at least, for awhile—until I realized there was nothing that I could do about it, _and_ that I loved him.

And if that's not ironic, I'm not sure _what_ is.

So I was here,_ inside his room, staring him directly in the eyes and telling him exactly how I felt._ Exactly like Ty-Lee had said, but, as much as I hate to admit it, she was right. I loved Zuko, probably more than I loved myself, and that _can't_ be good, says Ty-Lee, but I loved him, and if I didn't do something about it, I'd drag a razor across my wrists._  
_

So I told him. It was stupid, pointless, moronic and a _total_ waste of time, but I told him, and that made all the difference to me. Just to get that off of my chest, to make room for the next thing the world so carefully aims to trip me up with.

I got it off my chest, and what happened afterwards honestly scared me.

Zuko kissed me. He kissed me, and said that he was sorry, and the he didn't Love Katara, He said he loved her like a sister, and he knew she felt the same way about him. He said it softly, without regret or any pain, and when he looked at me, I nearly cried.

_Nearly..._

I ended up calling him a name, and he called me one in return, so I called him one that was even worse, and threatened to cut his testicles off if he ever did something like this to me, again.

He kissed me, then, and said he wouldn't.

And for a minute. Just for a single minute, I think I actually believed him.

There was no way someone could lie with a knife against their throat, not even someone like Zuko.

**With JJ and Toph**

**JJ'S POV**

**Sadly, I ended up liking the little blind girl. I ended up liking Toph. I don't know, maybe I have a thing for weirdos, just like I have a thing for girls with guy names. Like Randi, Alex, or Robi. It makes sense to me, but to everyone else it just seems strange. Maybe that's why I liked her, because she was _strange_, because she was _unique_. How many blind people do you know that can still see better than _you_ can?**

I wasn't in Love with her, after all. I was something more along the lines of "I'd really like to get to know you, better." And I figured I might as well try it, as Sokka didn't seem to be doing much of _anything_, lately. He was right now, with Suki, I think, talking to her and probably trying to console her.

At least, I _hoped_ he was. I'd much rather him be alive, and said than Dead and bleeding across the tiled bathroom floors... Or swinging from the ceiling by a towel.

Let me take moment to get that picture out of my head.

Okay, it's gone. Sokka is no longer swinging lifelessly from the—Nevermind...

I stood at Toph's doorway, trying to work up the nerve to open it, or at least _knock_. I know I sound like I'm tough and fearless, but really I'm a freaking _bitch_. The reason why I don't like romance is because it honestly doesn't _work_ for me. It's not that I'm terrified of girls, or something stupid like that, it's just that I'm so damned _nervous_ around the ones that I like that I end up writing all kinds of stupid poetry, and crap. Then they'll tell me their problems, and I'll listen, and give them advice on things. Everyone does that. I'm the human advice machine.

Maybe it's better tha way, it's always good to see them smile when it turns out all right. But at the same time, it sucks miserably, because I actually _want_ someone, someone to be _close_ to, without freezing up like a vial of damned liquid nitrogen.

Maybe Toph would be that person. If she was anything like me (She was just as sarcastic as I was) She had a softer center, that she rarely let anyone see. If she was anything like me, I could deal with her, and maybe work up the nerve to ask her out on a date. If she was anything like me...

If she _wasn't_, then I was absolutely doomed to failure.

I stood outside the door, and knocked a few times, finally, and managed to do so without breaking my hand, or severing any other fingers off my hand.

I wonder how Sokka's wrist is doing...?

"Yeah?" Said a voice from inside the room. _Her _voice.

"Hey, Toph. It's JJ."

Okay, that was incredibly stupid.

"I know."

And she didn't make it any better. Damn, she _was_ just like me.

I stood there for a few minutes, listening to time and sweat drip by, until I worked up the nerve to speak, again.

"Can I...Um, Can I come in?"

I could hear her snicker from the other side of the door.

"I don't know, _can_ you?"

I took that as a yes, and stepped inside. Twenty minutes later, I couldn't believe it.

I'd actually gotten a date, with Toph.

Man, I _suck_ at romance!


	6. All's fair: Love and War

**Ack, next chapter here, and I'm so damned tired it's actually hard to see straight. Thank God for spell checkers.. Anyway, this is where the story actually kicks in with the whole romance-y stuff. I won't tell you what happens, but, as I said many chapters before, it WILL be amusing.**

**As always, I don't own this show, or the songs listed here. And, ENJOY!**

**It was amazing. Love is amazing. It works in so many ways, but it always unfolds with a great supernova of elation that shakes the recipients to the very core, with an apocalyptic blast that all but severs them from the face of reality, away from the Earth, landing them somewhere up on Cloud Nine.**

**--1st Person: Toph--**

That's the last thing that JJ said to me. Right after he told me he couldn't date me, because I really didn't like him, like he did me. I though this was stupid, personally it made sense because even though we _did _ try and deny it, Sokka and I were very much interested in one another.

I hated coming to terms with myself. I can be a pain in the ass, sometimes. But it doesn't matter. JJ left, saying he'd return in a few hours if I hadn't come back home by then, Sokka was just as blind as _I_ was—in the emotional sense—and Aang and Katara had successfully made Love, while Zuko and Mai had a very scary-sounding make out session about thirty minutes before.

How did I know this? A little, guitar-carrying, Sound-Bending _idiot_ told me.

Now I'm sitting in this chair, trying to get drunk and lose myself, and my problems all in a wash of...Whatever the Hell this stuff was. The problem was, I wasn't working, and the person who had taken JJ's place had finally left, after I had released his throat...Well, the guy _was_ turning purple, and I _had_ felt better after letting out all my thoughts.

Ugh, that didn't sound like me. I guess after reminiscing after everything that's happened the past week I had some serious thinking to do. I didn't know what to do, now, but I knew I was _really_ ticked off at JJ, and felt sorry for Sokka. The blind, Suki-less idiot he now was.

At least Twinkles and Sugar Queen had gotten together. That counted for something, right?

Ah, Jesus. JJ's gotten to me with all the sentimental crap he was spouting, earlier. I need to wise up, just shut up and bear it, because it's—as he said—not going to get any easier, from here on. It almost made me laugh, the way he acted. You'd think that he was all-knowing or something, with the way he carries himself, sounding all tough and powerful, but inside he was as fragile as glass.

He said he was exactly like me. That's why he liked me, that's why he wanted to _help_ me.

How in the Hell was he going to _help_ me, if he'd left me here, alone?

I didn't get it, and I don't think whoever was sitting across from me did, either.

**With Aang and Katara**

**(3rd person)**

**It was official. The Avatar and the only master to the Northern Water Tribe were officially engaged. Ain't it nice? Through the midst of all this emotional turmoil, the two had come together under the most extenuating circumstances, but remain just as strong just as they always have. It's kind of bizarre, while Toph sat in an empty booth in a bar, crying. While JJ had disappeared, and while Zuko and Mai were most likely eating each-others faces, Suki was heartbroken, and Ty-Lee suggested they all go out to eat, to relieve themselves of pain and worry.**

**Bad move, Lee.**

**Aang and Katara walked into the bar, together, arm-in-arm positively **_**oozing**_** with Lovey-Dovey syndrome. **Their fellow bar mates looked up at them, hardly daring to believe that a happy couple would actually set foot into this building, and remain free of bodily injury.

The thing was, everyone was too damned miserable to do anything about it.

**The pair took their seats, across from eachother (where else?) And commenced a staring contest.** Not really a staring contest, because the goal of your usual one was to make your opponent cry. Neither Aang nor Katara wished to see the other cry, so instead they stared into the abyss of each others minds, probing their way past the irises, into the blackness that lay beyond. Both Aang and Katara were mesmerized, Aang being lost in a blue chasm, while Katara's vision reflected upon the smoky irises of the last Airbender, the same color of the sky, over which he so proudly held dominance.

Well, not exactly, but you get the point.

The two were interrupted by a waitress, who gave Aang a steep, knowing look, proceeded to take their orders, and left just as quickly as she had come. The duo continued their gazing into the infinities of the human minds, and didn't seem to be at all interrupted with Toph crying silently about ten feet to their left.

(**A/N: Okay, I know that didn't sound like Katara or Aang...As in ignoring Toph. But I swear, it all will make sense shortly.)**

**1****st**** Person--JJ**

**I stared into the bar from the back window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the green-eyed terror I'd come to like.** She was there, crying, over a glass of something undoubtedly alcoholic and staring into the table which gave her no condolences. I felt like an idiot. I _was_ an idiot. I had a massive crush on this girl, who I've never even met before now, and on top of that, I was supposed to be leaving with Zuko for the Fire-Nation early Tomorrow.

Obviously, I had no time for relationships, especially when they were on the other end of the world. So I had just one thing left to do, and that was to ensure that she was at least _remotely_ happy before I left—and I probably wouldn't come back, because of personal reasons—So I had to do it _fast_.

I watched Aang and Katara in the booth, both lost in their eyes, respectively. I felt like even _more_ of an idiot. I made Toph _cry_! What kind of a goddamned moron _was_ I? I made the girl I had a crush on _cry_.

But I have a reason. Honestly, I do. And if you bear with me for a little while longer, I promise, all will become clear.

I was currently out back from the restaurant. I was staring through one, grimy window on which someone had carved an oh-so-loving message to you mother. I snickered, softly, and grabbed what I had came for off the top of a nearby box.

A top hat, and a pair of thick, black sunglasses...

I just hoped Sokka got here fast enough. I figured he would, as I told him Toph was currently on the verge of Death from a bar fight. His face had paled—he had nearly passed out—and I had run off, ahead of him into the restaurant, awaiting his arrival. He didn't disappoint me.

He burst through the doors, carrying his sword just as I climbed onto the stage, tuning my guitar. He whirled around, yelling non sensible things—Okay, they weren't _all_ nonsensical, but I can assure you, you _don't_ want to hear—He glanced around, finding the room silent, staring at him, and he looked around again—nervously—for a place to sit.

He did exactly as I'd intended. He sat directly across from the sobbing Toph.

Aang and Katara were still lost in each others eyes. It made me wonder if Katara wasn't some sort of drug—To the Avatar, she most definitely was—but it astounded me to see them completely oblivious to their surroundings. Maybe I'd done _too_ good a job. Or maybe they were just madly in Love.

Either way, their silence was golden.

I saw Toph and Sokka begin talking, quietly, still decked out in my hat and glasses, thankful they couldn't recognize me. I bowed my head, focused on the strings, and began to play.

Guns N Roses: "Don't Cry."

**Talk to me softly, there's somethin' in your eyes.**

**Don't hang your head in sorrow, and please Don't Cry.**

**I know how ya feel inside, right, I've been there before...**

**Somethin's changin inside you, baby. And don't you know...**

Alright, I admit it sounds as if she's pregnant, or something equally as unpleasant to be sang sadly about. I didn't plan it _all_ out, just enough to get me to where I am, now.

Anyway, I couldn't blow my cover, so I continued.

**Don't you cry tonight.**

**I still Love you, baby.**

**Don't you cry, tonight.**

**Don't you cry, _tonight_.**

**There's a Heaven _above_ you, baby.**

**And don't you cry, tonight.**

I performed the opening chords to the second verse, focusing the sound to impact Toph and Sokka, and continued.

**Give me a whisper.**

**And give me sigh.**

**Give me a kiss before you, tell me goodbye.**

**Please don't take it so hard, now.**

**And please don't take it so bad...**

**I'll still be thinking of you...**

**And the times we've had, _baby!_**

(A/N: The cool thing was, this song could be played in either Sokka's or JJ's POV, to replay their emotions, respectively.)

(3rd person)

**JJ couldn't stand it. He'd sat here, playing this song—which he hated, because it made him cry—and not a damned thing had happened between the two. He realized that they were both upset—and he respected their fragility because of that—but, the problem was, he was running out of _time_.**

**(1st person)**

**I threw down my top hat, cursing loudly into the microphone. I dropped the shades, looking both Toph and Sokka dead in the eyes, grinning maniacally.**

"**That song **_**sucks**_**, don'tcha think?" Their expression were priceless, if not painful to observe. **Toph's own was sheer horror, which was quickly becoming rage. Sokka's was abrupt shock, laced with sadness. They gaped at me, and I gaped back, until Aang and Katara finally snapped free or their reverie, to pay their waitress.

Aang fumbled for his wallet, paying her a fifty-dollar piece, and she walked towards Toph and Sokka, who were still gazing shocked, at me. Sokka looked irritably through his pockets, withdrawing his wallet, which was apparently empty.

"Hey!"

**I almost laughed. I swear, it was cruel, but I almost started laughing, right there.** I remember (foggily, as I was drunk) Zuko stealing fifty bucks from Sokka's wallet, and I'd always wondered what had happened to it. Well, now I knew. I leapt down from the stage, handed the waitress fifty dollars of my own money—I considered this a debt to Sokka, who had modified my Kodachis so that I could use them even with three fingers on my left hand—And mounted the stage, again, vividly aware of Toph swearing at me.

"Okay!" I yelled, voice amplified by the microphone. "You two had _better_ start something, here and now, or else I'm going to blurt out you deepest, blackest secrets to the general public.!" I glanced at Ty-Lee and Suki, who were sitting at a table near the corner, shrouded by darkness. "Yes, that goes for you guys, too."

"But we didn't _do_ anything!" Replied Suki tearfully, while Ty-Lee continued taking shots. "I swear, I don't like him, anymore!"

I grinned at her, unaware if she could see it, or not. "I _know_. I heard you crying from out back. But I _do_ enjoy torturing you, because you tried to take Toph away from Sokka when they were talking, the other night."

Suki bowed her head, and said nothing. Serves her right for trying to wreck my plans.

I seized my guitar, again, and called for Sokka to come on the stage, with me. He did so slowly, still aware of my threat—I was grateful he was shocked, because if he _wasn't_, he would realize I didn't _know_ any of his secrets—He mounted the stage, glaring at me, and I signaled the band behind me to begin playing.

Yup, everything was falling perfectly into place. And I _knew_ Sokka knew every word, because I'd been giving him guitar lessons, and this particular song I made him memorize, completely.

**Van Halen: "You really got me"**

**Girl, you really got me, now**

**You got me so I don't know what I'm doin'.**

**Girl, you really got me now**

**You got me so I can't sleep at night**

_**Girl, **_**you really got me, now. You got me so I don't know what I'm doin, ****_yeah_.**

**Oh, _Girl_, you really got me now, you got me so I can't sleep at night!**

**You _really_ got _me_**

**You _really_ got _me_**

**You _really_ got _me_**

**You _really_ got _me!_**

**Sokka was nervous, at first. Glaring at me, and I could hear him cursing me in-between verses. But eventually, as he realized I was only helping—in my own way—he began to loosen up, and really get into the song. Actually, he wasn't that bad a singer. His high-pitched, semi-girly voice woulda made Sammy Hagar proud.**

I hoped so, anyway. I _hoped_ he was getting into the music. It could be he just enjoyed the attention...

Hopefully not, because that's just _weird_, right?

Toph began to move, slowly, out of her seat. Her eyes were dry, now, and she was smiling thinly at Sokka, whose voice was increasing in decibel and pitch—and it had nothing to do with me, ask Toph if I'm lying.

That heartbeat thing of hers scares the _Hell_ out of me.

Sokka continued singing, and I hammered away at the guitar, finally getting an excuse to fully let myself go. That's what being a Sound-Bender is all about, you know. Mastering _music._ Which is really just organized sound.

**Please, don't ever let me be, I always wanna be by you side.**

**Please, don't ever set me free, I always wanna be by your side.**

**Girl, you really got me now, you got me so I don't know what I'm doin, _yeah!_**

_**So, GIRL, you really got me now! You got me so I can't sleep at night!**_

_**You really got ME**_

_**You really got ME**_

_**You really got ME!!**_

**(A/N: I won't say it, but you could use them again, respectively. That was accidental, I guess fluff likes me...)**

Sokka howled, paying his tribute to the Rock Gods, singing his heat and soul out to Toph, who was smiling openly now, snapping her fingers along with the beat of the music. I smiled. I knew Id done it, I'd brought them together, I just had to make sure I hammered it home.

Which brought me to my last song.

**AC/DC: "You shook me all night Long"**

I snickered. This was either going to prove wonderful, or end up in my murder via Toph.

I signaled the band, signaled Sokka, and began playing. God bless Rock and Roll.

**She was a fast machine, she kept the motor clean**

**She was the best damned woman that I'd ever seen**

**She had the sightless eyes, tellin' me no lies.**

**Knockin' me out with those American thighs.**

**Takin more than her share**

**Had me fighting for air**

**She told me to come, but I was already there!**

**Cuz the walls was shakin'**

**The Earth was quakin' My mind was achin'**

**And we were makin it, _you_.**

_**Shook me all Night Long!!**_

_**Yeah, you.**_

_**Shook me all Night Long!**_

We continued the song, Sokka, the Band, and I. Rocking the bar from its wooden sides. We finished the song, bringing it to a shattering halt, and I made _sure_ that everyone's ears were ringing when it was all over. The song was over, my plan was over, but Sokka and Toph had barely even begun.\

Sokka leapt down form the stage, high off music, while Toph berated me, nearly tackling me to the ground as she began pummeling me with her fist, feet, and language.

I smiled in-between blows to the stomach, catching my breath. "S-Sorry, but y-you" I winced. "You going to tell him, are you?"

She stopped, staring at me, eyes clouded. Then she smiled.

"Shut up and play me another song."

I swear. I _Loved_ that girl.

(**Five minutes later)**

**3****rd**** person**

**Everything turned out all right. Suki and Ty-Lee realized that Sokka really **_**did**_** belong with Toph. (She had the advantage, as Toph had known Sokka for much longer, anyway) Katara and Aang were without-a-doubt in Love. And JJ had gotten to act like an idiot in font of everyone, pay off his dept to Sokka, and admit his feelings through song to Toph, who was smiling at Sokka.**

**Though, some of it **_**was**_** reserved for him. Everything was happy, everything was fine, all was all right.**

**Or at least it **_**was**_** until Sokka had an argument with a man, sitting at a table nearby him.**

**All Hell broke loose.**

**The man got up, advancing towards Sokka, drawing a knife. **Sokka whirled around, crouching low to avoid the thrust of the knife towards his throat, and kicked him off his feet with a single sweep of his legs. Other men jumped into the fray, converging around Sokka like carrion birds on a Dead (or, as they intended, soon-to-be Dead) piece of meat. Katara came to his rescue with a burst of liquor from a nearby glass, blinding the assailant, who keeled into a mid-back swing from JJ's guitar.

**Toph herself was fighting about three at once.** She did a bizarre version of the "Riverdance" which was sending up small blocks of Earth, catapulting several drunken fighters several feet into the air. Katara froze one of them to the wall with a quick bolt of water, only she didn't see the man emerge from behind her, like a shadow.

She turned, too late.

**CLANG! **Suki's fan knocked him out cold. Whatever it was made of, it was _very_ strong.

**JJ whirled as his opponent attempted a deadly cross-cut over his chest.** He parried the blow with the Kodachi, drawing it and blocking in one smooth motion—they rarely ever left the sheathes at his back—He twisted the small sword around, Sokka's attachments to it performing their job exceptionally well—as it stayed locked onto his arm—and sent the weapon flying across the room.

**Mai sat and watched all of this, expression slightly amused**. She enjoyed watching people get their asses kicked, especially when they were _way_ out of their leagues.

**Suki had latched herself onto a nearby drunk's back, and was pummeling him repeatedly over the head with a drum stick. **It broke, and he hurled her off, to where she landed on _another_ drunk, flattening his face by about half a foot.

**Sokka had managed to back himself into a corner, surrounded by murderous men. **He looked around, and screamed "JJ, TAG!" JJ responded almost immediately, throwing his Kodachi one-handedly towards Sokka, who began assaulting them rather brutally, with a short-and-longsword barrage.

**The men were _drunk_, but they weren't _stupid_, and they knew to back off when a wave of Sound, a boulder, something of a tidal wave of assorted dosages of liquid inebriation, and a pair of fans were faced against them, all but two being defeated.**

**They turned, and ran into the night. Their feet were the final things to disappear.**

Everyone cheered, celebrating the magnificent—if not destructive—fight they had witnessed. Everything was okay, everyone was fine, and the night couldn't get any better from here, on.

.


	7. All's well that ends well

**Well, after nearly killing myself to make sure I got the previous chapter published, I decided to end the story two ways. It WILL be Tokka, it WILL be amusing, in one ending, anyway. And the _other_ ending would be something you'd expect from me, if you read my stuff, occasionally.**

**I don't own this show. Thanks to LadyBaSingSe...You help me write FLUFF, curse it, and you also gave me the idea for the alternate ending...**

**Strange, they don't add up...**

**Enjoy!!**

**(3rd Person)**

**Well, I don't remember who said it. But all's well that ends well.** Yes, even the third-person viewpoint representing God can forget things. It's really not a sin, believe me. There's _plenty_ things on human history that I'd like to forget. My mind is like a Tivo, except I can't skip past the parts that totally suck or freak me out.

But then again, I'm _God_, so I've basically seen it all.

What is going to happen now, to the Gaang is something I will spare you from, if you so wish it. You may leave off, here, with the happy ending that will successfully end at the lower portions of this page. You will be able to go on from there, on your happy way, or whatever, doing whatever it is you were going to do.

If not, I neither commend nor berate you.

Just don't say I didn't warn you...

**1st Person POV**

**--JJ--**

**Okay, you might be wondering why the story is ending in the OC'S POV? Well, I'll tell you. My POV is the only one to successfully _end_ this story, because I will no-longer be here, Tomorrow, as I am returning to the Fire-Nation. This will leave a big, black hole in the plot, but will bring it to an inevitable Dead end. Believe me, what I now see in front of me will explain this, fully.**

**But, as was promised this was a _happy_ ending... Here it is.**

** EPILOGUE**

**Aang and Katara were officially married four months later.** They would've done it much sooner, but they didn't want to rush things, unnecessarily . They were in Love, of course, any moron could see that, but marriage is quite a step, even to a couple of Lovers, so they took their sweet time.

Getting to know eachother in many more ways than one. If you catch my drift...

Sokka and Toph hadn't changed. They still were the insane, argumental couple they always were... Except that the arguing was interwoven with bouts of making out and playing Strip Poker.

This makes no sense, as Toph was blind. But it seems that they didn't mind it.

Anyway, they never really admitted _anything_, not in words, at least. (Music does not count) But there was _definitely_ something there, and they explored and plundered that day-by-day, just happy to be _near_ eachother, because they really did...ugh..._complete_ one another, as Ty-Lee had so wisely seen.

Or maybe not, as almost _everything_ she says is hopelessly optimistic. Come to think of it, Ty-Lee had returned to the Fire-Nation the same day _I_ had, except that neither Mai nor Zuko were present on that ferry.

This is where the happy ending must fade into the pages of time. This is where I bid you farewell—and everyone else- especial Toph, who had kissed me goodbye, and Sokka, who had made it possible for me to wield my swords even with several missing digits from my left hand—Aang and Katara, who I had come to respect, Aang learning Sound Bending from me (Though I had never seen him do it) and Katara refraining from murdering me as Aang taught me Fire-Bending alongside Zuko.

Those last two events had taken place just a few hours before. I was currently staring off into the moon, wondering why the world hated me so much.

I haven't explained Zuko's outcome, yet. And You're about to learn why.

That is, if you'll read the next chapter...

**(A/N: Okay, I _know_ that was somewhat confusing, but it's supposed to entice you to find out what happens next.)**

**Please don't become angry. I _did _warn you, after all.**

.


	8. Red is the color of Love

**Well, you got your happy ending. You've had your fluff, so now it's time I turn to my true area of expertise...**

**Dark, Deathly things that linger only in the corners of your blackest nightmares.**

**No, it won't be _that_ bad. I'm only joking.**

**I don't own this show, of course.**

**Enjoy!!**

**1st person--JJ**

**It didn't seem possible.** I'd tried so damned hard to keep everyone together, even after ditching Toph—who I most definitely Loved, by now—at that bar, after staging the thing with Sokka. I t seems stupid, I know. I'd go trough all that trouble just to seem everyone _else _happy. Well, I would, providing those people meant anything to me, unlike ninety-something percent of the people I know.

Everyone's all the same, really. They all go after the same dreams, all go after the same level or reality, all searching for something that they can't find, and when they_ do_ find it, they are finally happy, living their Lives afterwards with that object in-tow, because it's a part of who they are.

Like Toph and Sokka.

Like Katara and Aang.

I wish the same could be said for Zuko and Mai.

I thought they were happy, together. Maybe they were, but Zuko being a whiny-yet-strong prince and Mai being a silent-yet-thoughtful...Whatever...Apparently was not such a good combination. I'd arrived back at their home—_their_ home, being the place I was staying at, as I didn't think of it as my own—to find the place empty, and completely deserted.

The lights were off, and all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

I went upstairs, turning on the lights as I went, calling both Mai and Zuko to come downstairs, so that we could say our goodbyes before leaving what Sokka had called "The Gaang."

We'd been made honorary members. I was honored, myself.

You may be wondering why I was dragging them away to say our goodbyes _now_, when the ferry didn't depart until Tomorrow. Well, there _were_ no ferries in Ba-Sing Se, only in the next town over, which was about six or seven miles away.

_Now_ are you satisfied? _Now _you know why we had to leave, so early?

I honestly didn't want to go, I didn't want to leave them. I didn't think of it as my _home_, but they were fun, and there was Sokka, swordsman extraordinaire, and Toph, who was just as sarcastic as myself.

That's hard to come by. But that's why she and Sokka made such a good couple.

Ugh. I sound like Ty-Lee

Anyway, you're tired of my rambling, by now. And you wish to know why Zuko isn't on tis ferry wit us, now.

Well, he _is_, but he's not exactly_ present..._

I entered their room, throwing the lights, and almost fainted at what I saw. The walls were red. I blinked a few times, thinking it was a trick of the light or Zuko's curtains, but no, they were horribly, vividly _red._

Do I honest need to tell you with _what?_

_This was sick._ It was everywhere. I had liquefied people, before, and even _they_ did not expel as much blood as Zuko had done across the once-white walls of his bedroom. This was an atrocity, Zuko had literally been shorn open from the neck, which had quickly led him to bleed out across everything within four feet on either side.

His skin was impossibly pale, even his scar seemed to be tinged whiter. His body was withered, I guess because of the rapid loss of blood. I sank to my knees on the floor, and crawled closer to the body of my Dead cousin.

In his neck, hidden under the folds of skin, lay a knife.

It was Mai's knife. I knew it, I don't know _how_ but something told me that she had done it.

I guess this was her way of showing she indeed _did_ Love him. Some people are just so incapable of emotion that, when forced to express it, they lose control temporarily and engage in acts that, to them, seem loving and full of care. But to others, seem to be of a vile, nightmarish disposition.

I guess Mai was one of those people. I took her to be a Goth, one who devoted themselves entirely to that name. I myself was a Goth in mindset, but from my exterior I was a damned Shakespeare of Rock and Roll, Poetry and sword fighting. She was quiet, and normally didn't say much of anything unless you asked her, first, but I guess everyone had misjudged her.

I needed to get rid of this mess, before the rest of the "Gaang" got home, and went after her blood.

As much as I despised Mai for doing this, I needed to make this debt my own. Katara and Zuko may have shared a relationship, sure, but Zuko was my _cousin_, and as much as I fought and argued with him, he was still family.

Mai was _so_ going to die for this.

I moved to the window, looking down into the empty-and-silent street. I don't know what I expected to find out there. People, maybe. A dog or two, Mai looking up at me and waving, hands still covered in Zuko's blood...

I didn't know. But I knew I had to do something, or else I'd go _insane._

I left. I took Zuko's body with me, and left on the Ferry that was bound for the Fire-Nation. I'd intercepted Ty-Lee on her way back, making sure that none of the "Gaang" was anywhere near her. It made sense, though, as Ty-Lee was _very _light on her feet, and a whole helluva lot faster than I was. In fact, I often used her as a sparring partner back in the Fire-Nation when I practiced swords.

I rarely ever managed to touch her, body or blade.

But she came, and I told her what had happened, and she had spent about five minutes sobbing uncontrollably into my shoulder. It made me angry, because, although I _did_ feel sorry for her, this wasn't really the time for hysterical crying...

But now...

Ty and I had left on the ferry the following morning, leaving the Earth Kingdom far behind. I knew that it would be difficult for them to follow us—if they _would_ follow us—to the Fire-Nation, perhaps with questions why we had left so abruptly.

No, I was just being stupid. There's no way they would tail us halfway across the world to ask why we left so quickly.

Like I said before, we were running out of _time._ But we had left, and on this ferry, overlooking the moonlit waters, alight with their own brand of solemnity, we had all the time in the world.

Ty was asleep on my shoulder, the night was silent, and so were the other passengers.

I let my head fall against the seat, behind me. Letting myself sleep.

Letting go of what you Love is always the most difficult thing...

I told Toph this, but I never told Zuko...

I promise, Zuko. When I find Mai, I'll make her pay her Life...

And the tears stiffened on my face.

**(A/N Well, somebody said Cough-ZukomustDie-Cough, and she gave me the idea for the alternate ending. The original was happy, and I didn't really put my heart into it, because it was fluff, yanno. But this is better, and if you want I could write a sequel, afterwards... (Not in OC'S POV, though.)**

.


	9. Part II: Returns and bad news

**Alright, guys. I'm back with more of the story "Blind." In case you didn't notice, I left off at a freaking HUGE plothole—and JJ was aware of this—so I could continue it from its ending point, into a new beginning.**

**Ugh, damn that girl. She's been writing me mad for like four days...**

**Anyway, it's STILL Tokka, STILL Dark-Fluffy goodness, and STILL just as insane as you'd come to expect from anything I write.**

**Enjoy!! Props to Lady, she suggested a sequel... **

**1st person**

**So where were we? Where did I last leave the "Gaang" and their accomplices before I turned my mind to another part of the world that so desperately needed my attention? Where were we when I drifted off into the end of this story, completely oblivious to the fact that I'd left a giant effing plothole smack dab in the middle of a pretty decent—because of the fluff—ending?**

Well, I'll tell you. I'll tell you where I left off. I left off _right_ before Ty-Lee and I returned home to the Fire-Nation, _right_ before the whole damned country was thrown into an uproar because some little nutcase decided to murder my cousin. Mai had sworn her Love for Zuko, and had proven it, ironically, by taking his Life. I was the one both stupid and unfortunate enough to have walked into the home belonging to The Avatar and his friends, marched up the stairs, throwing on _all_ the lights, calling for both Zuko and Mai to come downstairs, and had found Zukos dead body splayed across the floor, split open like a side of meat.

Apparently, she Loved him to Death. It's ironic, definitely. _Sick,_ but ironic.

So now where were we? _Now _where did you go when you return home to throw your entire home country into a state of madness and dillusion, only to tell the council—who had questioned Ty-Lee and myself until she had cried and I had become violent—that the killer was currently at large...

_Where? _They had asked.

Somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, some forty-thousand miles away. _Now _do you understand why I sound so angry? Why I sound so _tired_? Why I sound so...Well, a lot like Zuko did before he stopped hunting the Avatar.

But Lee is right. I quote her often, and she helps me through just about anything, from this foolish murder business, to the complete massacre of when I attempted to ask her out on a date. She's right about a _lot_ of things. A lot of things, and then some. She also says that Mai isn't crazy, but I beg to differ. I guess seeing your favorite cousin slashed to ribbons on his girlfriends bedroom floor can do that to you.

I might be acting foolish. I might be acting stupid. But I wanted Mai _Dead,_ and I would be _damned_ if anyone was going to catch her before I did.

Ty always said. "If you spend your Life chasing destiny, disappointment's what you'll find."

Maybe I need to slow down. Maybe, maybe not. I don't _want_ to slow down. I want to find Mai, and make her pay for what she's done. I want to make her feel the same way Zuko did, before she killed him. Only after doing _that_, will I slow down.

These royal duties are gonna be the Death of me. I was currently on a ferry—emblazoned with a giant Fire-Nation symbol, laced with gold and equipped with a food bar that carried just about anything you could imagine—bound for the Earth-Kingdom city of Ba-Sing-Se. I had left there, just...Maybe not even so much as a year before. Ty and I had literally spent _every waking moment_ trying to amend the situation which had rapidly gone from "Bad" to "Moderately Bad" to "Absolute freaking Hell and Chaos" within a weeks time. We had spent almost every waking moment in meetings, interrogations, council functions and trying to select a new Fire-Lord to run the country in Zukos untimely...Absence.

I don't want to believe he's Dead. Ty says it will kill _me_, and perhaps she's right—I can't tell you how many sleepless nights or times I've woken up crying since his Death—Perhaps she's right, but even if it _does_ eventually destroy me, I want to make sure two things happen before I spontaneously combust.

One: I find and take out Mai. Screw the law, I don't need to _apprehend _a _murderer._

Two: Ensure the safety of Ty-Lee while away from the Fire-Nation, which now rested in Iroh's wise hands.

That man was an absolute _genius._ Sometimes it actually frightened me. He was just so _wise_, so _knowing_, that its as if he was a God in his own right. He's seen much more of the world than he has let on to me, about. And I believe that's why he's the best candidate for Fire-Lord, now.

There's no way in Hell _I'd_ do it.

So Lee and myself were in-bound for Ba-Sing-Se, where Mai was supposedly lurking. I didn't know. She could be _anywhere_, but I _would_ find her, and I _would_ get my...Zuko's (?)...Revenge.

If there's one thing I learned from that cousin of mine, it's his determination. Never give up._ Never._

Oh, here's the dock. I guess I've got to go, now.

**3rd Person**

Well, all's well that ends well. Everything was okay last time you checked in with the "Gaang" was it not? Did you expect everything to _stay_ that way, especially with everything so chaotic—Katara giving birth, Toph and Sokka being brought together via music and repeated threats of blackmail—which worked wonders, regardless—Suki moving away, back to Kyoshi Island with the rest of her tribe, and Aang being put through all the trials and tribulations of fatherhood.

Take a minute to say "_Awwwwww" _Even as God, I still think it's cute.

**1st person POV—Toph**

**These last few months have been Hell.** I mean, I realize that Katara and Aang have had a baby, and with the way everything is now, after fully marking its recovery from the War, was plenty to get excited about, but it was nowhere _near_ enough to _scream_. Which is exactly what Katara was doing, now, overtop the baby. The combination of _this _sound, as well as Sokka's own hollering about something—and at this point, I didn't even care what—was just about enough to drive me insane, _and_ make me wish that I was _deaf_, rather than _blind_.

Well, wouldn't you? Don't tell me you'd just sit here and smile and act like you're _enjoying_ it.

Remember, I can tell when you're lying.

So you'd figure everything to be happy, I mean, after the War was over, after everything was okay, after Zuko, JJ, Mai and Ty-Lee had returned to the Fire-Nation completely unharmed—if not a little drunk, someone spilled wine on Zukos bedroom floor, and it _refused_ to come out no matter how many cursing fits Katara threw at it—but I guess everything's okay with them, now. They're back home, everyone's happy, and I guess we're more-or-less back to normal. Besides the baby, me Loving Sokka, and the past few weeks being _Hell._

That kid was driving me nuts. He wouldn't _eat_, he wouldn't _sleep_, he wouldn't even go and take a...Well, you get it, without balling up his face and screaming. I know, I sound like an idiot, it's a _baby_, right? Babies _cry._ And _cry _and _cry_ and...

I swear, I though that he was gonna explode once he hit the five-hour mark, according to Sokka's watch, and my own sanity which was all but torn in half. He's supposed to be letting us know he's completely healthy. Or at least, that's what Sokka says is happening. I don't even really _know_. I don't know much about marriages, or babies, or giving birth—thank God—and I really don't wanna find out. I just wanna make sure I can Live another few weeks without going completely crazy.

It was _fine_ that he was healthy. Completely great. But did he _have_ to do it at 32,000 decibels?

Everything was in complete madness. Completely and totally crazy.

And, of course, it only got worse from there.

JJ was back. JJ, the same JJ who had disappeared a year before, taking Zuko, the Human Slinky, and Mai with him. The same JJ who had said that he'd Loved me in some stupid bar down the street, after playing the song that'd brought me and Sokka together. I still remember the _name_ even, AC/DC'S "You Shook Me All Night Long" Apparently he must've though this was funny, because the song was about two people having sex, yeah, and he seemed to enjoy this as he played the damned song up on stage while Sokka sang vocals and the band slammed away in the background. He had shown up, with Ty-Lee by his side—looking nervous, and she _should_ be—just grinning, just grinning like he didn't have a care in the world, and I _knew_ he was, because I could sense it as he clapped me on the shoulder, saying.

"Hey, Toph. Long time no see?"

I drew back to punch him in the face, but was interrupted as the room fell dead silent. The baby had stopped screaming. Everyone had stopped Dead, and were staring at our two guests with huge, bulging eyes. I would've laughed, but I knew exactly how they all felt, just then.

What happened _after_ was _really_ funny.

Katara detached herself from the baby's side, and began pummeling JJ with all the force in her body. JJ didn't know why. I don't even think _Katara_ knew why. But if you were to see the cousin of your ex-Lover show up outta nowhere in your home with one of the girls that used to follow around his psychopath of a sister—who was _still_ evil, Dead or not—just as carefree as he pleased?

Well, what would _you_ have done?

Obviously, he had some _serious_ explaining to do, or else some _serious_ injury was going to be thrown his way, and I was gonna make sure I got first dibs.

Let's hope he talks as smoothly as he can sword fight.


	10. A Womans Intuition

**Okay, second chapter. I think I'm going to take someone's advice, and actually try various types of fluff. Maybe _actual_ fluff, not the semi-evil, rather uneasy-feeling stuff I usually write. It'll be funny, if not downright _odd_ for me, but I promise, in a few chapters it's going to sound remarkably like "Azula's Fury" This is not actually me giving up, this is actually what I had planned.**

**Just bear with me, it'll all make sense, soon enough.**

**Enjoy!!**

**Well, everyone reacted _exactly_ as I expected them to.** It was strange, I though that they'd change in a year, yanno, from falling in Love with eachother and everything, but I guess I was wrong. I was wrong about a _lot_ of stuff, it seemed. Like how everyone would react to seeing me, like how Katara would take the news of Zukos Death. Like how I told them the _real_ reason I'd come back, instead of just wanting to see them all, again.

Okay, the last part was a lie. I _did_ want to see them all again. Especially Toph and Sokka, as Toph is just as sarcastic as I am, and Sokka I can make blush at the slightest mention of Toph's name. My God, I Love torturing those two. But right now, that's unimportant, right now I've got to work this out, because I had just let loose why I was _really _back in the Earth-Kingdom,and they were_ none too happy _upon hearing this.

I just hoped Katara would let me _live_ long enough to finish my explanation. And even _I_ admit, it was an _incredibly_ stupid—not to mention _cruel—_thing to do.

**1st person—Katara**

"**Who do you think you _are!?"_ I asked JJ.** I was standing in front of him, giving him my best Death's-Head glare, which he was shriveling under. The baby had stopped crying—he'd done this, amazingly—and everyone was sitting in a circle in the living room, like jurors awaiting JJ's execution. Ty-Lee had no problem with this. She just sat silently in a corner, not saying a word—I'd threatened her to stay there—and she was doing an excellent job of that. Even is she _wasn't_, it's not like I would notice, because all my available energy and attention were going to screaming at JJ.

He attempted to reply, holding up his palms as if to ward off blows, and didn't say anything. He only bowed his head, and sighed. I continued raging at him, until he flicked his wrist, and I suddenly found myself without a voice.

He stood up and immediately jumped back, glancing around—I was sure of this even as I was attempting to scream—for any sources of nearby water. He backed away a bit more, faced me, and said.

"I'm sorry, Katara." He smiled grimly. "I know, it was _extremely_ stupid, and _extremely_ asinine, and not to mention downright _cruel_ for not telling you guys this, but I figured you'd be better off if you didn't know until everything was straightened out back home."

I continued trying to scream, which still remained soundless, until I gave up and fixed him with a glare that made him shiver. I folded my arms, and staid silent, staring at him.

He shrugged. "I'm sorry, and that's all I can say. I'm going to find and kill Mai, and I _know_ it's dumb, but it's the only thing I want to do. After I'm finished with _that_, you can _kill_ me, if you wish. All I want to do _now_ is find her, and make sure I pay her back for what she's done."

I still said nothing. Even if I could, I wouldn't have said anything. It actually looked to me like he was being _truthful—_not that he had any reason to _lie—_but he looked and sounded both sad and tired and completely worn out, just then. Normally, from what I've seen of him, he's like Toph, always strong and bouncing around, making wisecracks. But his eyes were haunted, there were deep lines on his face, and he looked both beaten, and angry as Hell.

I looked at Toph, who shrugged towards me. "He's not lying."

I looked at JJ, and he sighed with relief—from not getting beaten up, or from me listening to him I wasn't sure—and he said to me, quietly.

"Thank you." He flicked his wrist, again, and I found that I could talk, once again. He smiled, which was both warm and extremely tired, and said to Ty-Lee.

"All right. You're going to stay here with the Gaang" (He had taken that title as part of his own, as Sokka had initiated all four of he, Zuko, Mai and Ty-Lee into it) "While I go and try to find Mai."

As I expected, Ty-Lee shook her head. It figured. She didn't want him—or anyone _else—_getting hurt, and I also thought it was because she cared a great deal for him. Trust me, it's a woman's intuition. She frowned, crossing her arms, shaking her head from side to side "Nuh-uh."

JJ frowned, rolling his eyes. "_Yes__-_huh."

Ty-Lee took a step forwards, meeting his eyes directly, and said. "I don't want you getting _hurt."_

"_I_ don't want _you_ getting hurt!" Cried JJ. "I've already found _one_ family member of mine Dead, I don't want to have to find another!" He sighed, exasperated. "Do you think you can do that for me?"

Ty-Lee looked awful. I could tell she was angry at him for deciding to leave her here with us—without our consent, though I think he knew we wouldn't care—and I could _also_ tell she was worried about him, because even now, standing in front of me, he looked half insane and ready to fall right off his feet.

I think it was time I stepped in.

I took a step forward, cutting off Ty-Lee's reply, and silencing JJ from saying anything back with a quick wave of my hand which freed the water from my flask—JJ paled—and I said to them both, in my best "Do it, or I'll kill you" voice. (The one that I usually reserve for Sokka) "Okay, you two. I don't care if you both go out and get killed"--JJ looked shocked, Ty-Lee looked angry--"But I want to tell you something. If you're going to go out and get yourself killed, you'd _better_ stay here for a little bit, because I don't want to have to go dragging myself _all over_ this town _just because_ I'm worried about the pair of idiots that I consider _friends,_ and whether they'd gotten themselves _killed_, or not!"

JJ said nothing. I think he was actually awestruck into silence. He'd never seen me act like that, then again, he'd never seen me _angry_, before, either. Ty-Lee sat down upon the floor, and began to trace her hands around on the carpet, absent-mindedly.

"So...We can go?" Asked JJ meekly.

I nodded. "Yes, you can _both_ go after Mai. You can _both_ go, because Ty-Lee obviously wants to help you, and I think you're too _stupid_ to go running off by yourself. Even if you _do_ find Mai, you'll probably get killed by someone _else,_ before you do.

JJ nodded, he sounded angry, but I can tell he was silently thanking me. "Fair enough."

I wheeled around to face him, after smiling for a split second, my face turning once again into the stern mask I had perfected against Sokka. "One more thing!"

He paused, halfway in standing up. "What?"

"Go take a bath, both of you." Sokka snickered, and I threw him a warning glance. "No, not _together, _Sokka." I turned back towards JJ and Ty-Lee. "Go take a bath, and then get some sleep. You both look utterly exhausted."

He looked angry, but I could tell he was silently thanking me. Like I said, it's a womans intuition.

**1st person—JJ**

**I don't know if I should be hating or thanking Katara, right now. She had let Ty and I—no, I don't get tired of saying that—back into her home, with a minor argument, and no major injuries on my part.** I should be thanking her. I should be groveling at her feet like a chihuahua, or something, saying "Thank you, Thank you _so_ much!"

But I won't. Because that's just not my style.

Instead, I might do something really nice, later. Once I actually get some time to think about something other than Death, or revenge. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that it was _revenge_ that almost caused Zuko to destroy himself. Well, it _didn't,_and Zuko changed into the reliable, cool-yet-rock steady guy you know him as. He gave up searching for the Avatar, after having some sort of "internal revolution"--that's as close as I can come to putting his Uncle Irohs explanation into words—and it seemed to help him greatly, not only as a Fire-Lord, but as a _person._

It helped him, yeah. It helped him a _lot_, it helped him fall in Love, and even fight his father in this cursed War that I was a part of, even if I wasn't actually trying to kill the Fire-Lord alongside them. I was more trying to get the Hell out before they killed me.

Remember, they took my Sound-Bending as an outrage? Yup. I killed my own countrymen.

It doesn't count if they were trying to kill you first_, right?_

Either way, it doesn't matter now. The War is over, everything is once-again back to a state of normalcy—or as close as it was going to get—and people everywhere were enjoying Irohs wise and watchful eyes across the Fire-Nation. The Fire-Nation was at peace with the Earth-Kingdom, now. Everything was okay...Everything was _fine_, just hunky_-dory._

If I keep telling myself that, maybe I'll actually start believing my own lies. I need to clam down. I need to relax, like Zuko says, "It doesn't help to get so worried about something _little_ that you're ignoring Death looking you in the face." Well, Death wasn't looking me in the face, and if he _was_, I sure as Hell couldn't see anything in his eyes. The only thing I saw right _now_ was a wall, and the end of a pillow.

I wish Ty-Lee were here. She _was_ here, right down the hallway. She was probably asleep, just like I was supposed to be, only she wasn't being driven mad by Zuko from beyond the grave. She followed me because she cared about me, and I knew this, but she's not the type of girl that wanted to be entangled into some like myself. She was just so...So _happy_, and so _innocent_, even when she fought in the War, it seemed like she wasn't really aware of what she was doing. She was merely following orders, given to her by the Fire-Lord, and Azula, and she followed them quite well.

She _also_ followed me around because she Loved me. She Loved me, and I knew it, and I felt like _such_ an ass for not telling her this, but then again, I didn't want to get her mixed up into all of this—it was _her_ decision to follow me here, alongside the councils, not my own—so I really had no say in the matter. I mean, I appreciate the Hell of out Ty-Lee dragging herself along for the ride—especially about something that had nothing to do with her.

Well, that wasn't _entirely_ true. I'm sure she knew Zuko from somewhere before, I'd known her since I was at least eight, and we'd often play together as children, setting things on fire (my idea) or practicing gymnastics or her bizarre form of martial arts (her ideas) And she was basically what had gotten me started on sword fighting. It was actually_ Zuko_ who had suggested I use and modify the Kodachis to "Asses my bending malfunctions."

He had a killer grin on his face as he said it, too.

Regardless, it didn't really matter, to me. I didn't Love Ty, I didn't Love Toph, and the sad part is, that even if I _did_, I wouldn't actually have the time to _do_ anything about it. I was always rushing around, doing something else just as stupid as the event before, until--

My door opened, and Toph walked inside, looking furious.

--I found myself once again in trouble.

"What do you want?" I said, rolling over.

She stared at me for at least a minute, and then she said. "Something's bothering you, now tell me what it is, or else I'm going to _make_ you."

That—the first part, anyway—obviously didn't sound like something Toph would've said, and I knew it.

"Where's Sokka?"

She grinned. "He's outside, with his ear pressed against the door. It was _his_ idea for me to come and question you."

"The why isn't _he_ in here?" I asked, my face puzzled.

"Because _I_ can _make_ you talk. Sokka can't."

Damn them.

I sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you. Zuko's Dead, and I think Mai is the one that killed her."

Tophs face remained impassive, but I could hear the rage in her voice when she spoke. "_Mai_ did this?"

I nodded sadly. "Yup. I think she did it, because when I found his body, her knife was folded inside his neck."

"_Folded?"_ She asked, but she weighed my silence and said nothing more.

"Yeah, folded." I laughed, bitterly. The way you would when you wished something was funny, but it really wasn't. "He was the Fire-Lord, and he gets murdered by the girl who _Loved_ him." The grim smile remained on my face. "There is _no_ justice, poetic or otherwise, in that."

Toph laughed. "You're right." She walked a few steps towards me, and clapped me on the shoulder, smiling. "You'll get her. If you're anything like Zuko, you won't rest until it's done."

She was right. Damn her, she was absolutely right.

"Where's the baby?"

"Sokka's outside the door, I told you."

"No, I mean-"

"The baby is asleep with Katara and Aang. It's almost nine P.M. You've been out for hours."

_Damn._ _Figures._

"Is Lee still sleeping?"

She nodded. "Yeah, she's been out like a light. She must really like you to follow you around, through all this."

I felt my face turn red, and I rolled over and yawned to hide it. "Naw, there's no way she'd like me."

"_I can tell you're ly-ing."_ There it was, that incredibly annoying, sing-songy voice. And the worst part is, she _knew_ she was right.

"Shut up." I rolled over, facing the wall. "I'm going back to sleep, okay?" I smiled as genuinely as I could. "I'm going Mai-hunting, Tomorrow."

I felt her stand up, and she sighed. "All right. Good night, JJ."

"Night, Toph." I mumbled into the pillow. I wasn't doing it because I didn't want to talk to her, I was doing it to hide the tears.

She left, and the room was silent and dark, once again.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe I actually missed her.

But I did. I know I did.


	11. Double Vision

**I don't own this show.**

**There was a full moon out, tonight.** It shone down upon the city, like a naked eye that saw all but foretold nothing. It seemed to know everything that was, and everything that would be, because it oversaw everything, illuminated by its brother, the sun. The sun and moon are alike in many ways. The sun gives its light to the moon, and the moon return the favor by lighting the night with its freakish, pale glow.

It's also beautiful.

Some say the moon is evil. Some say the night, which the moon rules over, is evil. They say the night represents blackness, Death, and Fear. But that's just stupidity. Just mindless superstition.

Everyone's an idiot, it seemed. For some reason, I'd been associated with the night. I'd been associated with murder, and this mainly means the murder of my boyfriend, Zuko. Who is also known as the Fire-Lord.

Being associated with a murder case involving Royalty, is _never_ a good thing.

My name is Mai. If you haven't figured that out already by word of gossip. Everyone seems to know all the details of his murder, every fact and figure, every ounce of motive and understanding of why and where and with what I did it with.

Only, it was not _me._

Unfortunately, gossip can also be twisted. I can hear them talking, rambling _on _and _on_, each time the story changing as I was forced to hide, like a rat as the entire city searched amongst themselves for any trace of the "strange, lonely girl" who had committed such an atrocious crime.

They're idiots. Each and every one of them.

It didn't matter to me. I was used to traveling along, to living alone. It wasn't any difference to me whether I was with someone or without them. I chose that way, myself, and it had made all the difference in my Lifetime. I was never worried about anyone else, never had to grieve over pain or anguish about someone else's situation other than mine own.

I had stopped that once, fallen in Love with Zuko, and here I was, an _entire_ year later, on the run.

Sadly, this makes a grim kind of sense. It's all logical, really. It is human nature to over-react to certain stimuli that cause their minds to skip a few dozen spots in the thinking process, and jump immediately—and often disastrously—to conclusions. I couldn't blame them. Hearing that the Fire-Lord had been split open like a dressed cow by his girlfriend would frighten_ anyone_ into madness and uncertainty.

Unfortunately, while they tended to over-react, they also refused to _listen._

This meant bad consequences if I were to be caught, while I was searching for Zukos killer. Right _now_, I was safe, though. Right _now_, I was just fine, as no one was around, and the village square was completely deserted. I sat in a tree, at least a hundred feet above the roofs of the village below, and even from this height, I could still see every detail on the ground.

I could also see how easily I would be killed if I fell.

If not from the fall itself, the people that would come, after.

I needed to find someplace to hide.

**--Tulle--**

**The moon was a marble in the night sky.** It illuminated everything perfectly, down to the crispest detail with its crystal glamour. It was oddly beautiful, if you think about it. The moon was sought as an orb of penance, an icon for the lamenting, and a martyr for most births, as they occur mainly at night. Birth is holy, something to be revered and worshiped, for only few are blessed with actual children that they _want_.

The ground glistened underfoot from the gravel roads. Tiny, minute stones lay embedded in the construction, playing out a symphony of lights as I walked above them, admiring their simple beauty. People are fools at heart, they immerse themselves in Illusion, and seek out what they think is best for themselves, not realizing the destruction they bring their beloved in the process. It happens every second, of every day. Every and anywhere, all at once in a constant chain reaction of Chaos and Order, creation, obliteration, and recreation so that it can be so easily destroyed with nothing more than a sweep of the hand of Fate.

We are all blessed with this ability. I have realized this, many times.

I had realized it, again, just earlier.

I was bored. Boredom comes easily to someone like myself, as I am much higher than the others that surround me. I am no human, I am a God. I was put on this Earth to Live amongst the human populace, blessed with powers above their own, and given the task of destroying them from the inside out. An elusive, indestructible parasite that not even Death could catch hold of.

I amuses me, the simplicity of these human beings as they scurry about inside their city, living in fear of eachother, constantly greeting and meeting one another with the same, fixed smile day after day, month after year, until it blends into the watercolor swirl of their conscience, making a collage of mis-meets and regrets, of triumphs and tearful nights, each and every one evolving from the process that they call Life.

They call it Life. I call it nothing more than simple destiny. It was what I was born to do. To take Life, to _devour_ it, as if it were some rare delicacy, some exotic sweet that is as deadly as it is addicting.

You could call it a drug, if you wish, that is the closest you will become to being correct, as you are a human, and not a God.

Gods know everything. The moon is a God, as is the sun. It is a common human belief that the sun and moon were put into the sky as altars for the Dead to travel to, before they ultimately become one with the original Gods that placed them, there. I don't believe this, though. I only believe in Gods, and they give you choices as you go about your Life. Some choices are good, some not. Some are grand, some minute, I was given choices, as well, and those choices lead me along the path to my destiny...

It happened like this. I was one step closer to Godhood.

I took the Life of a young couple, deeply entwined in the throes of Love at such a ripe, shining age. I didn't feel bad for killing them—for that is what I am doing, even if it is my orders—I even gave them my blessing as I watched the light fade from my eyes.

I get chills thinking about it. Just watching them die, given to Gods who so eagerly accept my gifts.

This is how it happened...

I had watched the couple from a distance for several hours. I knew that they would please my masters, just from the way they _existed_, so content and at peace with one another.

I saw nothing wrong with this. But my masters say that there is no Love. They say there is only Chaos and Order, and to achieve Perfect Order, the world must fall victim to a complete, chaotic takeover.

This makes sense.

I followed the couple from a long ways away. I knew that, the moment they saw my face they would scream, and attempt to murder me, as I am branded like a monster. I have never _seen_ my face—the Gods say it is a sin to be vain—and the offense for breaking this rule is one that even I cannot fathom, given my standings above humans.

I never have attempted to break it, and I never will. For the sake of my soul, and eventual Godhood.

Besides, I enjoyed my duties quite a bit, even if it _did_ cause trouble for me. But this was understandable, as humans cannot perceive the thoughts of Gods. If they _could_, they would see the error of their ways, and destroy themselves.

But they don't, so that is why I must do it _for_ them. All for the Gods. All for my masters. All for the sake of mankind...

I followed the couple from a distance, but _now_ it was time to perform my duty, exactly.

The two were laughing, running through a park together, completely unaware of the great honor they were about to receive through my blade, and their blood. I stalked them in a circular motion, closing in the distance between us, and making sure that no one was around to witness their induction into the Pantheon. I doubted that this would happen, though, as my masters preferred to operate in secrecy, lest some foolish human learn the secret to their powers.

This was impossible, of course. But it was always wiser to be safe, rather than sorry.

At least, that's what the human quote states.

I watched the pair converse for a moment, and the female counterpart—this is not always correct, as sometimes males bond together just as closely as the opposite sex—suggested they perform something called "Hide-and-Seek." I knew little of human culture and rituals, but I knew this was a strengthening ritual of emotional attachment to one another, which enabled one to go away, and the other to find them, again.

This worked excellently for me. The Gods were _always_ at my side.

I moved closer to the pair, who had just begun breaking apart.

**This was it. This was what I was born to do. What my sole purpose in creation was to be, until I am granted Godhood, and pass on from this plane, into eternity.** I sat in a tree, above the female, as she hid, giggling, waiting for her Love to return to find her.

I supposed he would not like what he would find. Humans do not enjoy seeing one another die.

Too bad.

I leapt down from the tree, landing softly behind the female, who emitted a slight sound in shock, which was swiftly interrupted as my blade took the place of where her voice was.

I pulled my blade free, and watched the body fall to the ground, staining the emerald grass an un-natural crimson.

Death is my order. I never said it was _artful_.

The male ran towards the sound of her cry, alerted to her whereabouts, and found nothing but her Dead body, and the depression where I had stood just a moment, before. He cried out, one of shock and rage and pain, until a calmness overtook him, and he fell down to rest, beside her.

Or at least, his _body_ did.

I moved the two Lovers together, drawing the mark of my masters on their foreheads, mixing both their blood and mine—my blood was used as a transient to assist them into the Pantheon—sat at their feet, closed my eyes while stroking my sword, and began to pray. My hair fell in locks about my face, platinum blonde, the color of Life and misjudgment. I thanked the Gods for my slight frame, which enabled me to carry out my duties, and avoid injury.

I was not a God, _yet._ I was not immortal, I could sustain harm just as easily as they. But I didn't because, unlike them, _I_ am not human. The bodies lay side-by side, now fully Dead. I finished my prayers and blessings, and stood up.

The Gods were pleased.


	12. Oops

**Okay, I apologize if the previous chapter offended you, it's all part of what I'm planning to do. If someone figures it out, PLEASE DON'T SCREAM IT OUT IN A REVIEW! I'm trying to use suspense, and I'd rather not have the whole damned thing shot to pieces before I even get to play it out. This chapter goes out to LadyBaSingSe**

**If you DO figure it out, though. Congratulations, you have too much time on your hands.**

**Just kidding...We all do, really.**

**Enjoy!! (I'll start throwing out responses to reviews, as well. I think this should generate some pretty funny ones)**

**1st Person--Aang**

**Morning came too soon. It's not that Aang was sleepy, though. He just enjoyed being able to lay here, with Katara for as long as he was able, until their lives called them back to duty as friends, parents, and the Avatar.** He was used to this, by now, and was happy to be beside Katara anytime, anywhere. As long as they were together, there was nothing that couldn't be overcome. Be it the War, Azula, Zukos murder or screaming children, it didn't matter. There was _nothing_ they couldn't overcome.

Aang lay beside Katara, watching her breathe. I didn't touch her--I didn't _need_ to--I was content just to lay here, beside her and watch her chest rise and fall as she breathed softly, also telling me that the Love of my Life had survived one more day, and I would hear her sweet voice, or stare into her cerulean eyes one more time before Tomorrow.

"_Love isn't measured in the ways you show it, but in the ways you know it exists."_

Surprisingly, JJ had said that to me, before. Shortly after Toph and Sokka had been welded together through music. It made sense, it was kinda funny, though. Because _JJ_ had said that, the guy who repeatedly stated that he did not care for romance.

He was lying.

**1st person—Katara**

**I felt nervous. Even after having a child with Aang, I still feel nervous when he's close to me. There's just this _feeling_ I get, like I'm about to _erupt_ with all sorts of emotions, most of them being happy ones.** I Loved him with all my heart and soul. I always have, I just never fully realized it until it was nearly too late. The War had almost taken him from me, and I had nearly destroyed myself getting him back. But we were safe, now. And everything was perfect, it was moments like these that made me realize just how lucky I was to have him, beside me—and sometimes _inside_ me—and I never even thanked him for it, before. I never really let him know just how much he meant to me in _words._

I had lain with him—or rather, we had lain with each other—and had come off both equally as happy, which could only be measure in terms like "Divine" or "Meta-Joyful" if that one even exists. But it does _now_, I suppose, and it reminds me, each and every day of _just how much_ I Love him, and how much he Loves me, in return. He's said many times that he'd do anything for me, and I've said it to him—and we didn't need Toph to tell we weren't lying—but it still left me feeling...inadequate.

I never really _expressed_ it to him. Or at least, that's how I feel, but I've done so much now I can't even fathom a way that seems potent enough to convey this feeling.

I guess I should at least _try._ He knew I Loved him, and he'd forgive me if I failed.

**3rd Person**

**Aang and Katara were only mere inches away, but in thoughts they were legions apart. They were soul-mates, capable of reading and responding to even the slightest notion of thought or action created by one, that is quickly responded to by the other.**

**They really were, quite perfect for eachother.**

**Katara decided to tell Aang this, as best she could.**

"Aang?" She addressed the not-sleeping form of her dearly beloved, smiling the expression solely reserved for him.

He rolled over, staring into her eyes, which took her breath away. Even after all this time, his eyes had never ceased to astound her. Like smoke. "Yes?"

She fumbled for the correct words, and he began to laugh softly.

"What's so funny?" She asked him, stung.

He grinned wryly. "I think it's cute when you don't know what to say."

"Oh, and I suppose _you_ know what to say, instead?"

He made a face. "No, not at all. It's just I think it's...Well, _beautiful_ that we don't have to say anything at all to know each others thoughts."

Katara smiled genuinely. Aang was right. They didn't need to express their feelings, at all. As long as they _knew_ they were there, and made sure of it, occasionally, that would be all the reassurance in the world, and then some.

Aang moved himself closer to Katara, his breath tickling hes ear, and said softly.

"_Love isn't measured in the ways you show it, but in the ways you know it exists."_

Katara was momentarily shocked. That had been beautiful, even for _Aang._

"Who told you _that?"_ She snuggled against him, closing her eyes, at peace.

"JJ." Aang wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, and she did the same.

Katara smiled.

**1st person—Toph **

**Twinkles and Sugar Queen were out cold.** They were both strewn across the bed, so close to one another that it was actually hard to tell them apart from vibrations, alone. I was standing with Sokka, in the hallway, attempting to get their door open. Sokka had been really bored, and had come and got me—I wasn't sleeping, anyway—from my room to ask if I wanted to try out that "Left hand-in-the-cup-of-warm-water"trick JJ had taught him ages ago. He'd never gotten a chance to do it, before, because both Aang and Katara would probably kill him—not for doing it on themselves, but for doing it on eachother—and he hadn't wanted to risk personal safety on something so stupid.

Which made me wonder about a good half of the thoughts that ran through his head. He had a permanent scar on his left arm where JJ had blasted him through a fence—accidentally, although it looked _really_ cool from what he's said—and JJ himself was missing fingers from his left hand because of that same fight. I thought this was extremely funny, although I felt sorry for both of them, it _was_ kind of funny to hear a story about your best friends getting drunk and sword fighting in the backyard, even if it did result in one of them losing a couple fingers.

Those fingers _still_ were never found. I had no idea where they were. Some animal probably ate them, or something.

Sokka was almost finished picking the lock on the door, when he dropped the piece of metal he called a "lock pick" (It was one of my hair-pins) and swore, softly.

A door opened down the hall, and JJ stepped out, yawning. He looked us over, saw it was nothing good, and smiled. "The door's locked, isn't it?"

I nodded, relieved he wasn't going to rat us out. "Yeah, and butterfingers dropped the lock pick."

Sokka scowled—I could hear it in his voice, and said "At least I can _see_ in the dark."

JJ snickered in the nearly-black hallway. "Actually, this floor's wooden, so she could probably see better than you can."

"Shut up." Mumbled Sokka, over me snickering madly. "Okay, JJ, can you get this door open?"

"Stand aside." JJ strode over to the door, rolled up his sleeves, and--

BAAAAAAAM!! The door flew cleanly out of the hinges and smashed into the wall opposite it, making both Twinkles and Sugar-rific jump out of bed, screaming.

"Uh-oh." Mumbled JJ. "My bad, guys."

"Nice job, JJ." Praised Sokka. "I think you made them wet themselves, anyway."

Both Aang and Katara were staring at the three of us, huddled in the doorway, while they slowly came to recognize what we'd been attempting to do.

"Uhhh..." Began Sokka, sounding choked. "Happy...Uhhh...Surprise?"

Ty-Lee emerged from her room, screaming, and slammed straight into the wall, falling unconscious.

Uh-oh.

**1st person—JJ**

**BEFORE YOU SWEAR AT ME FOR LEAVING! I took full and complete responsibility for blasting the door open in Aang and Katara's room. I also took full responsibility in having planned the prank, and that Toph and Sokka had nothing to do with it. Katara was furious, Aang actually thought it was somewhat funny, and I had promised to take whatever punishment Katara concocted for me, just as soon as I returned home from "Mai-hunting."**

**She'd made me _swear_ to come back, and had Toph bear witness. The funny thing was, I lied.**

**I owe her one.**

I was going to come back, anyway, but I promised as much under one condition. That Ty-Lee stay with them while I was out gallivanting around, searching for the murderer of my cousin. I doubted I would find anything, just yet—I knew Mai, and she could become almost a _shadow_ when she wanted—so my efforts were probably going to be futile. But I was searching for her, nonetheless, and there was _no_ _way_ I'd give up before I found her, wherever she may be.

And besides, it got me _out_ of the house, and _away_ from Kataras wrath. And although it would hurt Ty, I didn't want her getting injured on _my_ account, just in case something _did_ happen.

And, surprisingly, it did. That's why I was lying in a pool of blood, in the park, at nearly midnight (Ironic, ain't it?) With absolutely _nobody_ around me.

Brilliant, huh?


	13. It's not you, it's me

**Okay, I got no new reviews, but I decided to write a few more chapters JUST BECAUSE I'm such a Loving, caring person.**

**Yeah, right.**

**Anyway, I'm continuing it, still fluffy, still funny, and there WILL be some hints as to who the killer is, later.**

**Enjoy!!**

**1st person—Ty-Lee**

**I can't believe what he's done.** I can't believe he actually went out after her, and left me behind. It doesn't make _sense_ to me, because I was also Zukos friend, I was just as close to him as JJ is, so why shouldn't _I_ be able to help? JJ knows I want to help him. He knows I like him. He knows I do, and I know he does. But why, then, does he always keep me at arms length? Why does he always try and keep me sheltered, out of harms way?

I would say he Loved me, but I know that isn't true. He always says to me that I meant just as much to him as Zuko, did. That I was like a little sister to him, even though he's only a month older than I am.

I guess he doesn't Love me. He doesn't feel the same way, and I respect that, because I can't _make_ him change his mind. But it still leaves me feeling sort of sad that he'll never really accept me towards him like I have him, towards me.

But what the heck. I can't mope around, forever. Mai does that, and she's good at it. I'm just not _good_ at being depressed. That's why you usually associate me with a great, big smile and a bouncy personality. I actually do _have_ a bouncy personality. But that doesn't mean I can't feel emotions like sadness or anger, or whatever, opposed to what most people think.

Mai was right, not crazy. People _are_ idiots. That's why I keep smiling, why I face what's wrong and what's right, knowing that I'll come out okay again, on the other side. Azula once said to me—in maybe the only honest and heartfelt thing that she ever said—that I was a fool. She said I was a kind fool, and that this kindness protected me, because it made me naive, but it also made me stronger, as not many things seemed to bother me.

Or at least, not many things that I let anyone _see_, anyway. What you see with me is a happy, fifteen-year old Fire-Nation girl who is always smiling, Loves music, and is always willing to help out, or follow any orders given to me from friends.

It doesn't mean I'm stupid, it just means I'm easy-going.

JJ says that it's amazing how nothing seems to make me frown, or worry.

He doesn't know the half of it.

**1st Person—JJ**

**I am an idiot. I can't believe I've actually been so stupid as to chase down someone fleeing away from a park, just as they finished murdering two people. I can't believe I'd actually been stupid enough to run them down, screaming, and try and launch an offensive when they were _clearly_ more skilled than I was.**

Stupidity is something I do a lot, it seems. Almost something that takes the place of common sense. _Almost._

_It's a wonder I haven't been killed._

I dragged myself home, trying not to disturb anyone and being as quiet as I could, while it was agonizing just to _breathe_, from the ten-inch gash that stretched across the upper part of my chest. If I hadn't been wearing my vest, I would've definitely been killed. And even _I _know that.

It sounds like an advertisement for something stupid, I know. But that's seriously what happened. I was searching back alleyways for any traces of Mai—from what I've heard, today, she's still somewhere in Ba-Sing-Se, but it makes sense, as Zuko and Iroh were able to hide here without much trouble from the royals or police--Anyway, I was searching for Mai in generally all the places where she'd hang out. Back alleys, bars, sometimes deserted buildings of ruined structures of whatever. Mai had a taste for the more Gothic side of things. It showed in her sense of humor, but that's not the point, she often liked to be alone, and away from the noise and the madness.

Kind of like me. Except that the noise and madness _found_ her._ I _was usually the one who caused all the trouble, and dragged everyone to _me._

Take last year as an example.

But now it was kind of ironic. I was back where I had started—after swearing repeatedly to myself that I wasn't going to come back—and, what was even _better_, was that I had no CHOICE in the matter. I was _forced_ to come back by the Fire-Council, who pretty much threatened me to bring Mai back, Dead or alive.

You already know which one I prefer, of the two.

So I'm home, again. I'm back home, in my bed, trying to sleep and keep myself quiet as to not wake up the others. It was about two A.M. when I returned home, and the attacks happened at about midnight, meaning whoever did this is probably very far away.

She was actually amazing, albeit frightening.

This is what happened...

I had just gotten to the national park, in Ba-Sing-Se, and decided to look around in there, for a bit. Perhaps Mai was hiding there—although I doubted it—or maybe she was resting, because she doesn't like to move too quickly over short bursts of time. She says it's useless to run through Life in a hurry.

I still don't understand this.

But the park _itself_ is beautiful, so I decided to stay there, just to _admire_ it, if anything. I was lurking around the outskirts of the trees, when I heard a scream from somewhere ahead of me. I'm a teenager, and instinct screamed that screams in the middle of a deserted park mean either someone is about to make out, or someone is being murdered.

Especially at midnight.

I ran towards the source of the sound, being bored, and hoping to frighten whoever it was that was there, until I stumbled upon something that frightened _me._

A girl, with long, black hair was standing overtop two Dead bodies, both eviscerated.

I'm after Mai. I want Mai Dead, as you know, but if you were to come across a murder _just_ as the killer had finished, wouldn't you try to interfere?

_Specifically_ if you were holding a pair of swords, at the time?

If not, I'm sorry. You're obviously more intelligent than I.

Anyway, you're the smart one, not me, so I did what I thought was right.

I ran forwards, screaming bloody murder.

Ouch, that sentence was horribly ironic.

Regardless, it doesn't matter. You can tell me your thoughts on my idiocy, but I really don't care. I ran forwards, screaming, and attempted to cut off the murderers head, but sliced through approximately sixteen inches of air.

I barely had time to bring me other hand around, to parry. I grappled with her, for a minute—she was _strong—_and she leapt backwards, and turned to run.

Or so I thought.

I took three steps forward, raised my sword in an attacking formation, keeping the other blade—the one attached to my arm, as I was missing a few the necessary fingers to hold it correctly—behind me, as taught by Zuko, until I heard a _zing_, like a sword being yanked from its scabbard.

Three flashes. Three hits. Three knives.

Evey single one of them in my chest.

The killer laughed, smiled at me, and ran away.

I blacked out.

I woke up, sometime later—around one—and found myself in a pool of blood, still in the same spot I had fainted. I got up—which nearly made me scream, as it hurt to _breathe—_and more dragged myself home, than walked.

Thats what happened. The entire fight actually took less than three minutes. I felt like an idiot, not only for running blindly into a fight—Zuko often said this was one of my worst faults—but also for being cut down so quickly, as I considered myself to be a decent swordsman.

_Why the Hell hadn't I used my Sound-Bending?_

Oh, yeah. I didn't have_ time_ to. I was too busy getting my ass kicked. It's kind of hard to think of a battle strategy when the _battle_ itself consists of mostly you being all but destroyed.

And sadly, I had the element of surprise.

Thank God I couldn't bend that one. I'd suck at it.

**1st Person—Toph**

**Sokka was an idiot. He was _such_ a moron, I didn't even know why I actually _liked_ him. But even as I say this, I know I'm lying. I like him because he's _Sokka_, because his jokes are lame, he snores too loud, and he has the appetite that could make a Devil-Bear wince.**

It doesn't sound like it makes sense, huh? Well, it does to me, at least. And Sugar Queen says that's all that matters. She and they baby were in their room, I guess she was feeding him, and I had no actual desire to find out. Like I said before, sometimes I'm actually _thankful_ that I'm blind. Since Sugarrific and Twinkles were busy, I was here with Sokka, crazy bored, trying to find something interesting to do.

Sokka glanced at me—I could feel it—and said. "So, what do you wanna do?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Anything. What do _you_ wanna do?"

He grinned. "Anything but sit here." He laughed, looking out the window. "You want to go for a walk, I guess?"

"Why would we go for a walk? It's not like I can _see_ anything."

Sokka blushed, and his heart sped up a couple beats. "No, I meant...Just to walk..."

"What, you want to spend _time_ together?" I asked, enjoying torturing him.

"Yes! Imean...No..Not unless--"

I gave him my best, wicked grin. "Let's just go for a walk, okay, Sokka?" I smiled. "I'll go if you wanna go. It's not like I have anything _better_ to do."

Sokka nodded, and he grabbed my hand—this shocked me, but I let him do it—and said. "Cool, I know this _really_ cool place downtown that sells these painted stones..."

I couldn't believe it. He actually wanted to take me out on a date. _Me. _

And what was _scary_, was that I really didn't mind.

Not _too_ much, anyway.

**3rd Person**

The day had given rise to new things, and now night was falling. Sokka and Toph had returned from their _date—_although Toph had sworn it wasn't one, and Sokka had been quick to agree—which had gone pretty well, considering that the pottery shop now had a hole in it the size of Appa—who had long since been Dead—because Sokka had attempted to hold the door open for Toph.

He vowed not to make the same mistake, again. And he wouldn't.

At least, not on _that_ shop, because it now lacked a _door_ of any kind.

Aang and Katara had successfully gone an entire day without hearing the baby scream, or ending up screaming, themselves. They were currently both asleep, in their room, with the baby dozing quietly in his crib, which JJ had fashioned with some Fire-Bending, Katara had sanded down with water, and Aang himself had carved intricate designs on, with the usage of some well-placed bolts of _very precise_ air.

Air-Bending can be just as potent as a knife, sometimes.

All in all, everything was peaceful, throughout the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Last time you heard that line, you realized that Zuko was no longer alive.

Well, that's not going to happen, this time. I won't torture you, just _yet._

Let us see what Ty-Lee and JJ are doing, shall we?

**(JJ's room)**

**It was very sweet, if not somewhat sad that JJ did not Love Ty-Lee. She _thought_ he did, but in truth he didn't, and he constantly told her this, but she refused to listen to him. She was currently sitting on his bed, arms folded, shaking her head as he told her, over and over, that he was _fine_.**

"Come on, that slash needs help--"

"I'm fine, Lee. Seriously."

"No, you're _not_, you've got a _huge gash_ across your chest! How can you tell me that you're fine!?"

"You walked in right when I took off my vest! It's not my fault you saw it! Maybe you should mind your own business.!" He glared at her, suddenly angry.

She sat back, silent. "You're not okay. And you know you're not. You're just like Sokka, it's funny." She smiled, half honestly, half-sad. "You both think you're indestructible, but you really are just a couple of softies at heart. It' so..."

"Whatever." Grumbled JJ. "Why don't you leave me alone?"

"Because I Love you, and I know you Love me."

"No, I _don't."_ JJ shook his head. "I _don't_ Love you, Ty. I never have, and I probably never will. You're my friend, one of my best friends, but...I..I just _can't."_

She said nothing. She only stared at him. "It's the Toph girl, isn't it."

JJ said nothing. He couldn't even bring himself to look her in the eyes.

It wasn't Toph. And she wasn't needed to test either of them for lying. It wasn't Toph, it was merely JJ.

Ty-Lee left the room, crying.

The strands of JJ's guitar could be heard from anywhere, across the house.


	14. Tulle

**Next chapter...I own nothing, of course.**

**I need to find somewhere new to go with this, as the fluff is becoming drama (although I had planned suspense, this was not the kind I had in mind) And I need to fix that, because it _hurts_ to write something that...just...emotional.**

**Ugh. I sound like an idiot. And I am.**

**Enjoy!!**

**--Tulle--**

**The night had fallen silent.** Once again, nothing but the chirping of the crickets could be found as sonic evidence that an entire village of people had been wiped from existence.

I had burned it all to ashes, after killing them all, sacrificing each and every one to my masters, who were hungry for Life, as they had not eaten in days. They were urging me forwards, to something. I knew not _what_, but I understood it had something to do with me finally attaining Godhood, my ultimate goal.

I got chills just from _thinking_ about it.

I don't care what you may believe about me. I care not about the whimsical dealings of humans. Humans are inferior to me, I was taught this, and also had come to realize it fully, myself. Humans were a curse, they were nothing more than a _plague_ upon themselves, and the Gods that ruled above them. If the were not destroying _themselves,_ they were creating, anew. Birth was sacred, even when done by blasphemous creatures such as human beings. They were so innocent, at first. Unaware and uncorrupted, but slowly, oh slowly, the voices of Life and Imperfection fall upon their ears, and they are tuned to another frequency.

One of madness. One of Fire. One of destruction, Death, and Hellish torment. They are locked within this tempest of self-inflicted doom, battered around by currents that are sadly beyond their control at this point, are ultimately destined to be destroyed, destined to be wiped out, and expelled from existence, like the garbage they are.

Or, in some cases, the garbage they become.

There was once a human who did not repulse me. He did not offend me, and I did not hate him. In fact, I surveyed my feelings from a distance, determined to remain detached from my surroundings, no matter how enticing they may seem towards my emotions, and it eventually dawned on me—with a growing sense of horror—that I was had fallen under what the humans call "Love sickness"

This sickened me, that I had actually reduced myself to _their_ standards with nothing more than a few silly feelings. I was foolish of me to have done such, originally, and I quickly amended my error with the taking of his Life.

I made sure he never felt a thing.

Now I was nearly complete, my voyage to Godhood was nearing completion. I only had a limited amount of lives to take, and I would fully achieve my destiny as a God, far beyond these pitiful humans.

It nearly made me weep with joy. I could finally, _ultimately_ be free.

Not to be regarded as a monster, as a freak, ever again. This village had seen me as a freak, and had paid dearly for it. That is why they were Dead.

It was brilliant...

**(Flashback)**

**Ten minutes ago, this village had been full of living people. Ten minutes ago, Death was far away from here, going about his business as he does, as I do. Ten minutes ago, the air was not filled with the metallic odor of blood, but laughter, and the children had not cried in fear as they watched their parents be disemboweled before their innocent eyes.**

**It hurts me to do this, but my orders are my orders.**

**_Death_ is my order. I _never said_ that it was _artful._ Whoever _has_ said so is a fool.**

**I leapt down from my cover, high above the village, the trees providing me with a mask of shadows, and approached the village silently, making sure I was unheard, and unseen. I crept closer, moving slyly, as to not be noticed as I entered the shroud of moonlight that separated me from them, and...**

**One man turned slowly, infinitely carefully around, saw me, and screamed.**

**It was the final sound that he ever made. It was slightly difficult to speak with a knife embedded in your throat.**

**I moved quickly, now, hoping to escape before I could be noticed, but I failed. They saw me—_all_ of them—and even _more_ came running from inside their homes, terror deviantly clear on their faces, which quickly turned to rage.**

**I reacted in accordance.**

**The first few were simple, easily overtaken with nothing more than a quick sidestep and a jab of my knife into their skulls. More came, cautiously this time, not wanting to suffer the same fate as their predecessors.**

**Too bad.**

**I lunged forwards with a quick, jerking motion of my arm, which caused several more to fall to the ground, throats torn open, the acid on the blades eating away at their flesh as they screamed silently.**

**I had severed their vocal chords. I didn't need any _more_ humans alerted by the noise.**

**More humans ran towards me, swinging swords, axes and various implements of my destruction, and were met—and overpowered—by my own.**

**I continued fighting them, one after the other, decapitating, eviscerating, disemboweling, Loving the fear in their eyes and the hatred in their expression, as I bid them a silent goodbye to eternity with my eyes. I kept murdering, and the massacre continued, men, women, whoever got in my way was quickly did away with, as I'd been instructed...**

**I burnt their bodies to ashes, but not before blessing them with the mark of my masters, and praying for their salvation, tributing my own blood towards them, so that they could enter the Pantheon as their souls were accepted.**

**Let the living burn in Hell. This was only a place of Death.**

**I smiled, and turned towards my next task. The burning of the village, itself,**

**A slight wailing emitted from one of the houses, and I smiled.**

**And, of course, then came the children...**


	15. More Bad News

**New chapters...Again. I need to start thinking of new headliners. I always seem to say the same thing every time. Or at least, begin it the EXACT SAME WAY...**

**JLFDAJHFADUOFASNFOJANFPIAJNPIANM.**

**There...That's better. That should've been somewhat unexpected...**

**As this chapter will be. I assure you.**

**Enjoy!!**

**--3rd Person--**

**There isn't much humor in death. Once something is Dead, there's really no way that it can be replaced. I say _it_ because _it—_the object in question—no longer is alive, and really cannot voice its opinion on how it feels about dying, or the Life that has befallen it. All it really can do is sit back and laugh at all the stupid humans, scurrying around like a bunch of helpless, demented ants without a queen.**

**But then again, that's why I Love you so much...**

**So here we are, once again with the Gaang, in light of the massacre that JJ and Toph discovered—while Mai hunting—within the village. Sokka could not come, because Sokka was currently occupied with a _very_ particular someone. Someone who had shown up the day before, rang the doorbell, and unleashed all-out Chaos upon poor Sokka's morals and self-esteem.**

**Guess who it was. I dare you.**

**I won't tell, and you haven't figured it out, you will very soon.**

**1st Person—JJ**

It doesn't make any _sense._ If you train for a _week_, you end up stronger. If you train for a _month_, you end up stronger than ever. I trained for nearly four weeks, nonstop, and succeeded in only one thing.

I got my ass kicked, again. The _same_ girl—the crazy one, from the park—came across Toph and I just after we discovered the village full of the Dead.

It still gives me chills. The scene was literally indescribable. We didn't really want to stick around after that—the feeling was mutual, trust me—so we decided to head back home, bearing nothing but twin cases of bad news. One, was that we'd found an entire village slain. And _two_, was that I'd found nothing in accordance to the whereabouts of Mai.

Great, huh? It only gets better...

Toph saw her just a second before I had. She threw me out of the way—she saved my _Life, _and I couldn't even _save her_, _period!_--Toph threw me out of the way, and was knocked unconscious as a BlackJack collided with the side of her head. I heard something _snap_, and she grunted, and I rolled away, trying to figure out where the insane girl was.

The last thing I saw was the BlackJack covering my vision. I woke up, some hour-and-a-half later, with a massive headache, and alone.

_Great..._

I fear for Tophs Life. And I fear even _more_ because I have to tell Sokka...

**3rd Person**

**I said there'd be great news, and you've just received it. Now, if you will remember, I _also_ said it only got better.**

Sokka sat on the edge of his bed, searching for something to say. Literally _anything_ to say. He was at a loss for words, and it was becoming difficult even to _think_, because of what Suki had told him, just ten minutes ago. She'd been kind enough to leave, to give him time to think—and she said she needed some, herself—but not before telling him two words—and _not_ a confession of Love, as that is usually three—that all but shocked the sense from his body.

Poor Sokka...

**(Flashback—Sokka)**

**Something always happens.** I say that all the time, and I mean it with complete sincerity. I mean it, because it _always_ happens. Sometimes the stuff that happens is _big,_ like Zuko being killed. Sometimes it's _small_, like Toph burying you up to your head in stone because of something idiotic you _may have_ said.

This is small because it's nothing new.

But this time, something big happened. Something big, something new, something so completely unexpected that I could even call it _huge._ Something _massive_, even, because of what it was going to do to my Life, and how I lived it.

I wasn't diagnosed with cancer. This was just as unpleasant though, and not because I didn't _want_ it, not because I'm selfish, or anything...

It's just because it's so..._Inconvenient._

Suki was back. And she was pregnant.

This is what happened...

Apparently, JJ must've answered the door, because he found me, and he had this sort of funny look on his face. Like he'd seen something he _really_ wish he hadn't.

I hoped to God he wasn't spying on me in the shower. He came up to me right after I finished changing my clothes, and told me that there was someone here to see me. When I asked him who it was, he shrugged, and told me he didn't know. But he remembered her, from before.

He forgot her name, I guess.

I went into the foyer, to find Suki standing anxiously beside the door.

She smiled when she saw me. She gave me a hug, and I gave her one back—just to be polite, I didn't like her, anymore—and then she told me she missed me, and I smiled.

She said she needed to talk. In guy-speech, those words are _never_ a good sign.

I went into my room, with Suki, and hoped that she wasn't going to say what I thought she was. I hoped she wasn't going to tell me she still Loved me. I had already told her that I didn't. That I _couldn't_, and she was my closest friend, that happened to be a girl.

Toph was my _girlfriend_. There is a complete and total difference between the two. Believe me.

Anyway, it wasn't that Suki was back that scared me. It wasn't that Suki was back, at_ all_, if anything, I was _happy_ to see her—in a non-perverted way, now that I've brought up the subject—but the reason _why_ I was at a loss for words, and also sort of sad, and angry, was because of what she told me, just then.

The conversation was strained, before. It was all but nonexistent, after that.

Suki bit her lip, looked down, wrung her hands a few times, and said. "Sokka, I'm pregnant."

I think it was then that I fainted.

**3rd Person**

**Well, here and now, a variety of things are going wrong. Toph is gone. JJ is guilty as Hell for having been responsible for losing her, Sokka has just found out that he is the father of Suki's child, and Aang and Katara have their hands full with their own.**

**Ty-Lee is all but silent, keeping herself withdrawn from the others. She and JJ have quite a bit of thinking/talking to do, don't they?**

**And, of course, there;s the eternal question of...**

"**What am I going to do, _now_?"**

**Let's find out...**

.


	16. Schemes

**Ooooooh. Suspense. I THINK I'm doing it correctly, and this is pretty much the effect I am hoping for. I get no reviews, so yanno...**

**Anyway, enough complaining. My social Life is a disaster, I'm worried about SCHOOL, and the ideas that are coming from this thing aren't exactly helping me, at all. I wish that I could control their flow, but they're like a mental stream.**

**In a way, they are... Anyway, it doesn't matter. REVIEW, PLEASE!!**

**And, ENJOY!!**

**This sucks. It completely and totally sucks viscous, massive amounts of..._Something_.**

It's impossible to put into words the amount of suckage that my situation contains, because the ones who have experienced it have all but vanished from the face of society, as we know it. The only things I can think of that contain the aforementioned amount of suckage are stuff like the assassination of Zuko, or the discovery that you've contracted AIDS, or something.

I don't have AIDS, if I did, you probably would be talking to a corpse. If that's even possible. Suppose Hell has phone lines?

Anyway, you get the point on what I feel right now. Toph is gone. It's my fault, there's no two ways about it. Nothing I could've done was good enough, and I totally screwed up, anyway, because the _same_ killer managed to beat me senseless, _twice._

Either I'm slipping, or... Maybe it's time I try something new. I guess I'm just not good enough to beat her, yet. I _know_ she's purposely finding me, and I _know_ she's got something against me, or else she would've killed both of us, right there.

Instead, she took the girl. Sokka's girl. Not mine.

I don't have a girl. And the only girl who actually _likes_ me, is holed up in her room, crying.

I should go talk to her. Wish me luck?

**1st person—Sokka**

**This wasn't right. Something was wrong with JJ. He was acting strangely, he wasn't loud, he wasn't playing guitar—There was no God-forsaken music blaring through my bedroom walls—and I think something was the matter with him, because he made no wisecracks about me and Toph while he passed by.**

Where _is_ Toph? She went with him, but I never saw her come back. She must've gone with him into his room...

Uh-oh.

**3rd Person**

**Apparently, Sokka and JJ are on the verge of war. Personally, I feel sorry for them, but you can laugh, if you wish.**

**Sokka burst into JJ's room, just as he was about to open the door, aiming to talk to Ty-Lee. The door flew open just as JJ reached it, and it smashed against his nose, knocking him backwards.**

JJ fell backwards, sprawled on the floor. "Ow." He rubbed his face, groaning. "You can _knock_, right?"

Sokka ignored the sarcasm.. He fixed him with a murderous glare, instead. "Where's Toph?"

JJ looked confused. "I don't know. I though she came home, and went to see you."

"I thought she came home and went to see _you?"_

"She didn't." Replied JJ, standing up. "I don't know where she is, man."

Sokka looked at him, boredly. "I don't need Toph to tell that you're a horrible liar. Now _where is she?"_

All the color drained from JJ's face, and he sat down, placing his head in his hands. From within his hands, came a choked. "I don't _know."_

"_WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW!?" _Screamed Sokka. "What, did you LOSE her? Did you go out and drop her off somewhere, like a toy? That was my _girlfriend,_ you moron! She's a HUMAN BEING! MY human being! Not just some PIECE OF GARBAGE YOU CAN--"

That was all Sokka got out. JJ had punched him across the face, shutting him up, and knocking him down. Sokka lunged forward, grabbing for JJ's legs, and succeeded in causing JJ to drive an elbow into his ribs. Sokka wrapped one arm around his neck, and began pulling with all the force in his body.

JJ choked a few times, and sputtered an answer to Sokka's previous question.

"I don't _know! Someone knocked me out—and..."_

His voice trailed off in a river of tears. Sokka released his neck, shocked.

"What happened!?" He sounded more alarmed, than angry.

JJ looked at Sokka, fighting back more tears that threatened him with their arrival. Sokka got off of him, released his neck, and sat up. "I don't know. Toph and I found this village. This _huge_ village full of people"

"So she's at this village? Did she run away, what?"

JJ shook his head, and drew in a breath. "Man, I gotta calm down." He glanced around, aimlessly, collecting his thoughts. "No, she didn't get lost. Everyone in that village was Dead. The houses were burnt down, and the only ones that were still standing were full of bodies."

Sokka said nothing.

"I don't know what happened, after that. She threw me out of the way, and I heard her make some weird noise, and then I was knocked out by something heavy, and I passed out."

Sokka still said nothing. He only nodded.

"And when I woke up..." His voice failed him, momentarily. "She was gone."

Sokka gazed at JJ, both expression and eyes unreadable except for a cesspool of hurt. He broke eye contact, punched the wall, and said, almost absent-mindedly.

"I thought you killed her. I'm sorry."

JJ looked at Sokka as if he had spurted a second head. "What, because I want to kill Mai? You think I'm some sort of homicidal psychopath? You think I'd actually take Toph out to the middle of _nowhere,_ and _kill_ her?"

Sokka grinned horribly at him. It was a sad attempt at humor. "I'm over-reacting, aren't I?"

JJ nodded coldly. "Just a little bit, yeah. I _Love_ her, Sokka. I wouldn't _kill _her for the world."

Sokka looked taken aback. "You _Love _her?"

JJ grinned. Another sad attempt at humor. "Yeah. Don't pretend you didn't know that."

Sokka only smiled. "I'm a horrible liar, too."

JJ nodded. "Ty-Lee was right. She says were a lot alike. She says we act all tough and indestructible, but we're really a couple of softies at heart."

"Where is Ty-Lee?"

"In her room. I was going to talk to her, but I don't feel like it, now."

"Sorry." Sokka stood up, and stretched. "I can go talk her down, if you'd like."

JJ nodded. "Thanks. I think she might put a knife through my throat, even as happy as she usually is, given her current state."

Sokka flinched.

"_Okay."_ Amended JJ. "Maybe she won't. That's more of a Mai thing to do."

"Are you going out to look for her?"

"Her and Toph both. If I'm not back by morning, make sure that you give my regards to the Fire-Nation."

Sokka grinned wryly. "I will."

JJ only smiled. But for the first time, they actually felt like something more than rivals...

Maybe something was going to go _right_, for a change.

**(Three Hours Later)**

**Sokka and JJ were sitting inside the latter's room, discussing the details of the previous Mai-hunt, and Sokka's situation with Suki.**

JJ leaned back, snorting. "I can't believe you actually got her _pregnant_, man."

Sokka glared at him. "I _didn't_. He glanced at the wall, not really seeing it at all. "I don't even remember _doing_ anything with Suki. The last time I saw her was in that bar, when you were dressed up in that top hat and glasses."

JJ considered this. "You know, she _could_ be lying."

"Why?"

"She wants you back, doesn't she? And with Toph gone—they both shuddered slightly, and then laughed—it's apparent that there's no better timing to try and steal you away."

"You seriously think she;d do something like that?"

"There's only one way to find out."

"What's that?"

"A lie-detector test. And I don't mean Toph."

"How?"

"Let's just say that Sound-Bending can work in weird ways, whether I'm blind, or not."

Sokka shrugged. "Whatever." He sighed, stretching. "When are we gonna go look for Toph, again?"

"_You're_ not._ I _am gonna go look for her, _you're_ going to stay here, and deal with Suki."

"Then how do I know you're not going to steal her from me, once you find her?" Sokka squinted at him through one eye. "Hm?"

He was joking—apparently, their senses of humor were practically on empty—but JJ didn't seem to find it funny.

"Don't joke about that." He sighed, strumming his guitar, thinking. "I won't steal her. It's not like I didn't work my ass of trying to get you two idiots _together_, in the first place."

"Why did you do that? She liked you, after all."

"I know. But it's obvious you like her, and vice-versa. Besides, even if I _had_ went out with her, you would've all but stalked me while I was doing it."

Sokka looked offended. "No, I wouldn't!"

JJ looked at him, boredly. "Don't think I didn't see you hiding in the bushes, outside the bar. You left when I got up from the table."

"Sh-shut up."

JJ grinned. "See? I only told you the thing about the bar fight to give you incentive to get there faster."

Sokka smiled genuinely. "Thanks."

"And to make you look like an idiot, of course."

Sokka's smile faded. "And I guess you didn't, while dressed in a top hat and sunglasses."

JJ's eyes narrowed. "Don't push it, Sokka." He smiled, again. "Okay, so I'll take care of your Suki problem, and _you're_ going to--"

Sokka opened his mouth to argue, but JJ cut him off. "--help me no matter _what_ I tell you to do?"

Sokka nodded. "Something like that, yeah." He extend his hand, and JJ took it.

"You're still missing three fingers from you hand."

"So? What, am I supposed to re-attach them, or something?"

"No." Sokka gave him his best, most twisted grin. "It just makes me wonder how you can hold a fork."

"A lot better than you can hold a sword."

"Says the guy who got beaten, twice."

"Shut up, Sokka." Growled JJ.

But they were smiling...


	17. Mistakes

**I own nothing. Randomicity owns NOTHING he lists in this story. He also would REALLY freaking APPRECIATE IT, if someone were to review. **

**I swear in this chapter. Once. I say the "F" word, but it's in good usage, and I promise it will not happen, again.**

**I really would. I haven't gotten a single review since I began part II.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and ENJOY!!**

**3rd Person**

**Suki** sat on the edge of her bed, staring out a window, polishing her fan, thinking of a strategy to secure the final pieces of her scheme into place. She'd arrived back at the Avatar's home, pregnant, abandoned, and absolutely lost for something to do. She had no one. She couldn't even return to her Kyoshi Warriors, as the policies _she_ had enforced would act as a buffer to her returning there, accepted.

Needless to say, her situation was a stumbling block the size of Mt. Everest.

Ending up pregnant after a drunken, horrible one-night stand after having lost Sokka—who she really _did_ Love—was number 3 or 4 on her list of things _not_ to do. She'd woken up, groggy and dillusioned, thinking she'd been mugged, at first, but she realized all too soon what _really_ had happened to her.

She was naked, lying naked, next to a complete stranger, cigarette still clamped tightly between his teeth, end still not quite finished burning.

She almost blacked out. She crawled from the mess of sheets, gathered her clothing as silently as she could, and turned to leave. Everything would've been fine, everything would've been okay, except for the small fact that her partner was not fully asleep.

He got up, and he was a _mean_ drunk.

Suki stood there, half-dressed, while he prepared to throw a punch, aimed for her face that would've done a considerable amount of damage, had that fist not been broken half a second later.

He reeled back, hollering, swinging blindly, calling her everything in every language—including gibberish, as this guy was _plastered—_he knew, until Suki's solid, cleated boot knocked the inebriated sense out of his body.

She left, and never once looked back.

She found out a week later that she was pregnant. A doctor had been kind enough to tell her so.

At a loss for something to do, she went nowhere. She became a drifter, wandering aimlessly from place to place, hoping to find solace for the change of events she had so wisely _not_ seen coming,_ and _alsohoping to stay _alive_, until then, because lord knew how many men would deem a pregnant, seventeen-year old girl as an easy, fragile target.

A few did, and to her credit, they never saw quite as well from their eyes, again.

But she was _here_, she'd made it to the place she'd called home, at least, until she'd ran away, and that's what had gotten her _into_ this mess, but she was here, and she hated having to lie to Sokka, but, given her current state, Sokka would be _understanding_, but he may not be so _helpful_.

So there lies the question. "What am I going to do, _now?" _Unfortunately, Suki had no idea what she as going to do, next. But Sokka and JJ knew _exactly_ what they were doing—or as close as they could come, given JJ's recklessness and Sokka's misled genius—but they had a pretty well-defined plan down, and were about to execute a whole lot of _something_ all over Suki's conscience...

Poor Suki, I nearly feel sorry for.

_Nearly,_ anyway.

**1st Person—JJ**

**It was all set and official. Sokka and I had devised a completely _foolproof_ plan to check what was _really_ going on with Suki. We'd spent nearly two hours devising it, and had gone over every possible outcome that could have been thrown our way. The only thing left to do was to _try_ it.**

**Pray for us, please?**

The hardest part was figuring out how I was actually going to talk to her. It wasn't like an "Ask-you-out on-a-date-and-please-PLEASE-don't-reject-me-talk. Yanno, like the one I had with Toph. I spared you the details of it, because I _really_ didn't want you to think anything less of me because I stuttered for half an hour, while she snickered at me.

And then I ended up leaving...But you know why I did it, so I won't explain. Instead, I'll let you laugh as I make an idiot out of myself—_again--_as I'm probably about to do, right now.

Sokka's right, though. Something _does_ always happen.

Suki was quiet, and she looked sad. I don't mean like Emo sad, like Zuko half the time before he gave up the _Moby Dick_-like obsession of the Avatar, but like Emo _depressed,_ like half the world was bearing down on her, and it was crushing her completely and totally.

If she was anything like Sokka had told me, she was usually very peppy. Kind of like Ty, except that Ty wouldn't kill you. She'd just disable you, and laugh as you flop around like a beached fish.

You don't want to know how I knew this.

Anyway, Suki was like Ty-Lee in the sense that she was normally upbeat, and had a die-hard exterior that she rarely let anyone see. This makes no sense, still, as most people hide their happiness and replace it with a rough attitude. I don't get it, but then again, I really don't understand women.

Sokka said he'd teach me, but I politely refused. I _said_ it was because I sucked at romance, but I _really_ meant it because, if he _did_ teach me, I'd be Dead before the following week. Sokka was a good guy, he had a great sense of humor, he was sarcastic, and he could sword fight.

I only know three guys that could do that. Zuko, Sokka, and Myself.

Everyone else could bend. I can bend, and so could Zuko, but you get my point...

The Sokka comments sound gay. And I'm not, it just makes me laugh to realize how much of an idiot—a _cool_ idiot—he can be, and still stay as screwed up as ever.

Anyway, Suki and I talked for awhile, and I got to know her. I got to know her because I _had_ to, not because I _wanted_ to, but by the time I left I was feeling a whole lot of two things.

One: Pity. She'd been abandoned in the middle of nowhere, after losing Sokka—whom she Loved—_and_ after being socially rejected by her Kyoshi warriors by the statues she herself had lain into place.

I didn't ask her why she didn't just go ahead and remove them. She could've just done that, and solved her problems easily, but she was like Lee, and liked to work hard to accomplish things. Kind of like Toph when she puts her mind down to it. Or, at least Sokka tells me. I don't exactly know her that well, considering I fantasize--

Uhhh...Nevermind.

We've _got_ to find Toph, now. I'm beginning to worry, although I know she can take care of herself.

Suki told me what happened to her. She told me that she'd been ditched, and now she was pregnant, and had nowhere to go. She also said that she was really sorry for trying to steal Sokka away from Toph—which is pretty much why I had all but tortured her during my previous visit here—and she said that she had nowhere left to go, which is why she had lied to Sokka about the child being his own.

She thought everyone would reject her after accidentally getting pregnant. I didn't think so. I'm pretty sure Katara and Aang weren't counting on actually having a baby until they were married.

But they were in Love, so what the Hell?

Two: Anger. She was stupid for having done this, and she told me she knew it.

All in all, I kinda felt sorry for her. I'm sure this happens constantly, someone gets drunk, someone gets laid, and someone ends up with an extra seven pounds at the end of nine months that just happens to be _living._

I needed to talk to Sokka. He needed to hear this, as much as anybody.

An hour later, we'd figured out _another_ plan, that would actually _work._ Within a few days, we'd gotten Suki a home within the inner ring of Ba-Sing-Se, and had settled her in quite nicely. I made fun of her, of course, playing guitar about having children of playing songs about being drunk—and I think she _expected_ me to do this, which scares me—and I went so far as to write her a letter, along with the others, giving their housewarming present.

Aang's own was regretful, and consoling.

Sokka's was sarcastic, and reprimanding, but also consoling, as she was safe, now.

Katara's was angry, but ecstatic at her having a child. (Children are sacred, there's no need to kill something so innocent)

Thank _God_ Toph wasn't here to write her a letter, I mean, she _couldn't_ because she was blind, but if she _had_, we'd have ended up with a Civil War within the Earth Kingdom...

My own was five words long.

Dear, Suki.

"Get the FUCK over it."

I signed my name, wishing her well.


	18. Black Sabbath

**I don't own this show. I've given up on reviews, because none are going to come, am I right?**

**They say "No news is good news..."**

**Yeah, right.**

**Enjoy!!**

**--Tulle--**

**There they were, again. The Gods had come, earlier, to judge my progress along the pathway to my destiny. **They had chosen me as the ultimate successor to them, and had promised me with a portion of their power, upon fulfilling my final task. There were two more souls left in my quota, and I were to make sure they were special, that they were absolutely what the Gods wanted me to surrender to them, and then I would be given my eternal reward. A passageway into a black and destructive eternity, as the inevitable God of Chaos and Spite.

Then I would be able to pay back the torture this world has bestowed upon me, a thousandfold. I didn't _want_ to destroy this planet, I really only wanted to be _away_ from it, I only wanted to be _free_, to be with my masters, who were so patiently awaiting the completion of my task, bestowing upon me their complete and infinite blessing, alongside an unbreakable trust.

But my orders were my orders. As I have said, before, _Death _is my order. And I would see to it that I would not fail at them.

No matter what... Besides, I still had the girl to deal with, and she was proving quite amusing. Surviving shocks of lightning is something that not many humans are capable of. I feel almost sorry that I will have to kill her, alongside her friends. I feel almost sorry I will have to see her die.

At least I can make sure it is enjoyable, when she goes.

The girls was not on my quota, but I might take her soul as assurance on my transgression into Godhood. As insurance, you see. I have nothing against her as a person, I only have something against her as a human being. This is why I can only destroy her, once I fully achieve my quota. It is a rule upon _myself_, not my masters.

The Life-Force radiating from her body was tempestuous. I nearly sobbed when I finally secured her as my own. She was in my clutches, just another human being, capable of Death, capable of harm, capable of having the soul ripped from her body as I ascend into my rightful place.

Only to be born again, here. Where, then, I will truly rain destruction down upon those who inhibit this miserable planet. Like so many ants, I will crush them in the name of my masters.

I could not wait. The girl, and Godhood, were _finally_ within my grasp. My quota was nearly full, and my masters were preparing my rights as a God as I speak these words. They had told me in secret, risking their own Godhood in the process. It was a shining exemplar of their faith in me.

I would return the favor, tenfold.

**3rd Person**

**It was time. It was finally time to find Toph. The lives of the Gaang, and those accompanying them had been patched with great painstaking, and the hour had finally arrived to go out and search for Sokka's only reason to exist, besides his sister.**

**But, of course he was being overly-dramatic. You expect him to be, correct?**

**Sokka and JJ left shortly before dawn, setting off for the village that JJ had discovered, earlier. According to the banks of Sokka's infinite knowledge, a murderer usually returns to the place of his slayings, in order to build an intimate connection with that of the Dead.**

**JJ didn't query about how he knew this. He didn't ask about how Mai did not return to their home, after murdering Zuko. He didn't ask it, because he truly didn't care.**

**Where there was Death, there was Mai. And he would find Toph alongside Sokka, come Hell or high water.**

**And, sadly, Sokka's information was misguided. But, ironically, he was correct.**

**Tulle--**

**They are here. I sense them coming nearer. I can almost feel their blood, already. It must be the Gods way of letting me know that this is how I am to fulfill my quota. _These_ are the souls I am destined to take. Alongside the girls, I am to descend into Godhood.**

**It was time to begin...**

They approached carefully. I watched them, from high above, under the Night's Eye, as they slowly stalked my whereabouts. They were good, undoubtedly. They moved with such skill, such delicacy, that you could almost mistake them for a couple of fools, bent on retrieving their friend from the inevitable clutches of Death.

I said _inevitable._ This obviously was not going to end well.

They moved closer, and I began to descend from my perch in the sky. The tree made no noise as I did so, and I listened to their conversations with a keen ear, hoping to gain some insightful knowledge of their strategy, and destroy them all the faster.

I could not keep my captive waiting. She was to be my final soul, and she must be fresh when reaped, like the children of the village I had stolen her from. She was currently awaiting her sentence, asleep within the confines of the village the two below had tracked me, too.

I had underestimated them. I had believed I couldn't be found. I must make sure not to do it, again.

The pair of fools were entering my home, apparently unknowing that they were walking straight into the jaws of a trap. Given to me by the Gods, not even the most skilled humans were capable of foreseeing it.

I heard the steel jaws clam shut, and a deafening scream.

I smiled.

**1st Person—JJ**

**I couldn't believe it. I'd had my life saved, again. Sokka had seen the small crevice in the floor just before I had, and he threw me aside, just as the steel jaws clamped shut over his legs. He screamed, bleeding and turning violently pale as the dripping jaws injected poison directly into his bloodstream.**

**Whoever was doing this was not messing around. He would die, even if I never did catch Mai.**

**He told me to go ahead, and find her. While he watched over an unconscious Toph.**

Her pulse was steady, she was not Dead. And Sokka seemed to be Hell-bent on seeing her survive. I realized just then that, although I _did_ Love Toph, I could never fully Love her as much as Sokka did.

I'd focus on how much that hurt, later. Right now, all that mattered were my two friends.

Sokka told me to Do it For Toph. I would do it for her. And him. And everyone else she had killed.

But the only problem was, he told me _not_ to kill her.

And I knew he had me. Toph wouldn't want me to murder her, either. No matter how horrible she was.

_Damn._

I had only one choice, now. I would apprehend her, drag her back screaming to the Fire-Nation, and make sure that they never sent me on another mission like this, again.

That was my objectives for Mai. That was also my goal.

But first, I had to deal with this killer...

God help me, I was a Dead man.

**1st Person—Tulle**

**He was close. The boy was close. The one who had attacked me in the park, he was close to me, now. I could feel it.**

**He obviously wanted one thing, and that was to destroy me. There was no sense in denying it, I knew it to be true. This was apparently some test from the Gods to fully prepare me for my transformation into one of them/ My final seal to my quota that would enable me to fulfill my destiny as overlord to this miserable planet. Ruling over all the lives it held. All the souls, all their power, all their _fear._**

**I would become a nightmare to them. Something intangible, infinitely horrible.**

**And it began with him...**

**I landed behind him, silently, alerting him to my presence even in total darkness. I lunged forwards, and he dodged me, rolling into what he assumed was safety.**

**He was wrong. Three knives embedded in his arm assured him of that.**

**He screamed, running for cover. I followed him as a cat does its prey. Knowing he could not get far, and that the poison I had laced the blades with, earlier, would beat his heart into Death just as easily the blade of a dagger could. **

**The only difference was, his heart would pump the poison through his bloodstream, freezing his heart where it lay, so I could watch his dawning comprehension as the Life faded from his eyes.**

**I couldn't wait. It was nearly painful to do so.**

**1st Person—JJ**

**My arm was impossible to move.** My vision was clouding, and I knew she was following me, every second that ticked my sanity away. I couldn't believe that she'd actually gotten me to this extent. I'd train, and _trained_, and _trained_, only to have it all smashed down into nothing.

Nothing more than what was a dream. I would fail at killing her. I would fail at paying Mai back for Zuko's Life, I would fail as a friend, and intimately be responsible for both my best friend, and the girl I Loved being murdered.

There is no justice, poetic or otherwise, in that. I say_ intimately_, because this is exactly what she wants me to do. This is exactly what she desires, what she _needs._ I don't know her. I'm glad I don't, but I'm beginning to understand why she murders such the way she does.

The symbols. The ritualistic markings, the constant urge to keep murdering...

She does it for a reason. Whatever it was, it was a Dark one. I was dealing with a complete psycho, and a total genius.

When she found me, finally, she finally came in for the kill, I found her greatest weakness.

I would have to kill Toph.

**Tulle--**

**The boy is such a fool. He has actually lead me to the room where his friends are, as if hoping to receive some sort of assistance, some form of consolation from the bleakness of his Fate.**

**I will remember him. It is not _entirely_ bleak, they will _all_ become part of me, and help me to attain Godhood, as I so rightfully deserve.**

**It was time to begin...**

**I stalked him quietly, at first. I watched him stumble around, weakened from my poison which was now taking full affect upon his body, until he staggered to a halt, just a few feet from his friends. The girl was unconscious, and the other boy began screaming weakly, pleading for him to get up, to fight me, to _kill_ me.**

**They were all Dead.**

**1st Person—JJ**

**Damn her. Damn her to Hell and back. She had me. She _knows_ she had me, and I think that even Sokka knew it, just then.. Poor Toph was still unconscious, if not already Dead—though, her pulse was fine, earlier—and if she wasn't, she was soon-to-be, anyway.**

**The worst part was, I'd failed. And I called myself a _swordsman._ I said I had _talent._ Why the Hell hadn't I seen this coming, then?**

**She approached me, slowly. Swords held high, making sure that Sokka had a front-row seat in what was going to become a nightmare theater. An endless screenplay, what told a story of only Death.**

**It never got good ratings, I'd hoped. The air was ice-cold, and I could see small puffs of breath move from her mouth as she approached me, sword held high in the traditional fashion for the Death-stroke, grinning, realizing she had won.**

**Not.**

**I lifted my arm from the floor, smiling as evilly as I could. She faltered, seeming confused.**

**The killer was Mai. It was Mai. I think she didn't realize it—her eyes seemed lifeless and insane—but it was Mai who was about to sever my head from my body.**

**That's what gave me strength to do this. Sheer, uncalculated rage. Her final mistake, in _this_ Life, anyway.**

**She lifted her hands, sending a bolt of lightning at the unconscious Toph, who screamed, once, and then lay still.**

**I snapped my fingers, once.**

**She died with a smile on her face.**


	19. Resolution

**FINAL CHAPTER! This is the last one in this story. I was kinda hoping to make it an even twenty, but yanno...**

**When it's over, it's over. If I add anything after that point I'll just seem cheesy and foolish.**

**Anyway, here's your FINALLY HAPPY ending...And no plot twists!!**

**Enjoy!!**

**God bless those who have reviewed. I really appreciate it...Now I need to find a way to repay you.**

**3rd Person**

**The ending was the ending. Mai was captive, Sokka and JJ were still alive, and Toph was making a speedy recovery of her own.** Everything had fallen so swiftly and perfectly into place, although the Gaang had no _actual_ objectives, pertaining to something important and completely drastic that could uproot a nation, or something. It still was nice to finally realize that you could sleep at night, knowing that your friends were safe, and no psychopath was out murdering villages full of people.

Or, at least, _Mai_ wasn't. Sound traveled better in cold environments, and the room she had been in when JJ had snapped his fingers was _freezing_, like a meat locker.

JJ let her live. He didn't know why—and I wouldn't ask him—but he said that it was better, that way. If she was Dead, it wouldn't solve _anything_, he said it wouldn't solve any of the Fire-Nations problems with her, but it _would_ make him feel a whole helluva lot better. He also said that, now that Mai has been apprehended—she's in a straitjacket, moaning in a corner—He should return home to the Fire-Nation with Ty-Lee.

Apparently, Iroh wanted him to take Zuko's place as prince. He _hated_ this, but it's a felony to deny civic duties that have been placed upon you.

Unless he wanted to end up like Zuko, and be hunted down, constantly.

**Sokka was fine. He'd healed remarkably well, pertaining to the seven-inch spikes that had been skewered through his legs**—JJ said he p_erpetually owed him one—_and would make good on that debt when he returned to the Earth-Kingdom. And he _would_ return, and just to visit, if anything. Sokka was _also_ becoming close—_very_ close—with Toph. They could almost always be seen, together, and a few rumors of marriage were thrown about, to be quickly quashed by Toph—with threats of Death and the removal of certain anatomical parts—but we all know that they were lying, of course.

They would be married in less than a month.

**Katara and Aang were not major characters in this story, and the writer apologizes dearly for that.** His excuses _suck—_he says he cannot write Kataang fluff, as it nearly drives him to the brink of his sanity, or lack thereof—and he apologizes wholeheartedly upon the absence of their specific kind of fluff within the dialogue and banks of this tale.

If we were to go seek out Katara and Aang, right now. They could be found, entwined in each others arms, sleeping soundly within the confines of their room. Their child, now one, is absent.

How they slept through the noise, I'll never understand. And I'm supposed to be portrayed as God. They woke up, later, though, in time to say their goodbyes and farewells and _arrivedercis._

Let us join the now-decreased members of the Gaang, and see them through their farewells, shall we?

The Gaang...

Sokka, Katara, Aang and Toph stood at the foot of the dock, watching the ship depart for the Fire-Nation. They were silent, realizing the sudden lack of noise from JJ and Ty-Lee's absence.

And they actually were somewhat grateful for it.

Sokka was happy, although sad to see JJ and Ty-Lee go—he'd received JJ's guitar as a farewell gift, along with instructions on how to play—and he was reading through them, when he came to a song labeled "For Toph."

He smiled. Damn JJ, he should've expected something like this.

Katara couldn't be happier. Not from their guests leaving, but the fact that she and Aang were finally going to be wed was enough to brighten even the black sky. It was raining, and their moods reflected oddly off the ominous clouds, because they were _happy_, not _crying_.

Aang felt the same way as Katara, and he was glad that he'd learned Sound-Bending, and had been able to teach JJ Fire-Bending, as Zuko had been so rudely interrupted before he could complete his instruction.

Sound and Fire, both hard to control. Thank _God_ JJ was no-longer in the Earth-Kingdom.

Toph herself was glad. She wasn't glad that he'd left without saying goodbye, but she was glad that it was over, and that everyone was happy. She had said goodbye to _him_, and had received nothing in return, except a wave and a wink. Ty-Lee had all but ambushed her, with a hug that had launched itself from the 2nd-story, to pummel her into the ground.

Ty-Lee found herself buried up to the neck in stone, a moment later.

Now that everything was said and done, where would they go? What would happen, next?

There were a few things left unsaid, and Sokka said them, for her.

On the strings of a doublenecked guitar...

They both smiled, that song alone had said everything.

**1st Person—Toph**

**Well, I guess this story began with me ranting, so I'm gonna end it that way, too. I guess you'd figured by now that Sokka and I are going to be married—we deny it,but I think Sugarrific and Twinkles have figured it out, anyway—so there's no point in lying to them. It kinda ruins the fun of messing with someone's head when they already know the point of the joke.**

**Sokka played me a song on guitar. I couldn't _see_ him do it, but I felt the vibrations of the sound waves in the floor, and I think it's everything he wanted to say to me, but never got a chance to.**

**Or couldn't bring himself to, because they act all high-and-mighty. Sokka and JJ both.**

**I could still kick both their butts, easy.**

**Anyway, Sokka's playing his guitar, screaming something about welcoming someone to a jungle, where they've got "Fun and Games" He said he'd teach me to play, once he got the hang of it, but I think he forgot to realize—again—that I was _blind_.**

**Now I get what JJ meant when he said we were both blind. He didn't mean with our _eyes_, he meant with our _heads_, and _hearts_, and stuff...**

**I hate him. He's lucky he's not here, right now, cuz I'd bury him where he'd never be found.**

**Sokka's finished playing. He looked at me, asked me what it meant, and I smiled and told him exactly what I thought it was saying.**

"**Everything." I wasn't lying.**

**He laughed, and asked me what I meant. I said that if I told him, I'd have to punch him, because only an idiot couldn't see what the song meant.**

**It was what _both_ of them felt, not just JJ, not just Sokka. But _both._**

**Damn, I hate him.**

**Sokka leaned forward, gave me a hug, and laughed. I could feel him smiling the smile that gave me lightning bolts up and down my spine—maybe it was from Mai electrocuting me, I'd like to think so—but then again, maybe not...**

**Sokka kissed me, once, and asked me what we should do next.**

On the other end of the world, unknown to Toph and Sokka, JJ and Ty-Lee were doing the same thing.

**Toph smiled. "I could think of a few things."**


End file.
